Return of BloodClan
by fawny
Summary: Full summary inside. Six cats have been selected to defend the Clans from an old enemy: BloodClan. But BloodClan is more dangerous than ever -- and one cat refuses to go. Can the five remaining chosen ones manage to defeat BloodClan before it's too late?
1. Allegiances

**Hey everyone! I've finally decided to write a story set in the future as I've been meaning to for a while ****- more than a year**** now, I think. I've always had the plot in my head, but I never really put it down into words. Ah well. No time better than the present, right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Warriors_ by Erin Hunter or any of the cats mentioned in the series** **-** **therefore, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm not gonna post a disclaimer from hereon out because this disclaimer will stand for every chapter in this story****...****so in other words, I'm too lazy to put it :].  
**

**Anyhoo****...****all original stuff belongs to me. This includes the plot (as I'm fairly sure nobody has ever used it), and the characters I created (I will probably mention a character from the real series, like Firestar/Scourge. I don't own those cats - I own only the characters I have created)****.**** If I used a canon name you've used in a story published before mine and this upsets you, tell me and I'll change it.**

**This story is rated T for violence and minor suggestive themes. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Summary:

_The prophecy has been made_. Six cats have been chosen by StarClan to defend the Clans from an old enemy: BloodClan. Stronger and more dangerous than ever, BloodClan's new leader—a descendant of Scourge named Ice—has vowed to avenge his ancestors and combine the Clans into one. With him as the leader, of course. And Ice has learned from his predecessors' mistakes: BloodClan now has a medicine cat, and their elders are well-looked after. Unbeknownst to the other Clans, BloodClan has been staying in the mountains for a long time, training and molding Clan techniques with that of the Tribe of Rushing Water's, whom eventually escape into the forest to tell the Clans about Ice's plans.

But this time, even with the Tribe's help, all four Clans joined together might not be enough to defeat BloodClan—the hopes have been pinned upon the six chosen ones, who must travel to the mountains to stop BloodClan in its tracks before it gets any stronger. But what if one of these cats refuses to go? Can the five remaining cats manage to defeat BloodClan before it's too late—or has the time of the four Clans finally come to an end?

And as if that wasn't enough. Before it's all over, three cats will send every forest cat's views spinning.

One cat—a cat they've always admired…will prove to be a coward.

One cat—a cat they've always thought loyal…will prove to be a traitorous snake.

One cat—a cat they've always overlooked…will prove to be the most dangerous of all.

_**

* * *

**_

_**ThunderClan-**_

**Leader:**  
Thornstar—old, sand-colored tom with tawny eyes  
Mate: Cloudstripe

**Deputy:**  
Dovewing—small pure gray she-cat

**Medicine Cat:**  
Rainfall—blue-gray she-cat with bright green eyes  
Apprentice: Specklepaw

**Warriors:**

Cloudstripe—white she-cat with very dark green eyes  
Mate: Thornstar  
Apprentice: Graypaw

Frostfang—white she-cat with dark green eyes

Lionwhisker—golden-brown tabby tom with unusually thick fur  
Mate: Creamfoot  
Apprentice: Nettlepaw

Foxtail—red-brown tom with a long, bushy tail  
Mate: Honeyfur

Rabbitclaw—brown-and-white she-cat with orange eyes  
Mate: Mallowleaf

Mallowleaf—sand-colored tom with dark green eyes  
Mate: Rabbitclaw  
Apprentice: Treepaw

Leafstorm—reddish-brown tom with green eyes

Rosepool—pale brown tabby she-cat with cream patches

Lightstep—golden-brown tom with blue eyes

**Queens:**

Petalflower—tortoiseshell she-cat with bright green eyes and a fawn-tipped tail; mother of Tansykit, Daisykit, and Ravenkit  
Mate: Stormcloud (deceased)

Creamfoot—very pale brown tabby she-cat with deep blue eyes and cream-colored paws, oldest nursery queen; mother of Stormkit and Amberkit  
Mate: Lionwhisker

Honeyfur—light ginger she-cat with amber eyes; mother of Hawk-kit and Drizzlekit  
Mate: Foxtail

**Apprentices:**

Nettlepaw—mottled brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Specklepaw—white-spotted pale gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Treepaw—mottled brown tabby tom with green eyes

**Elders:**

Oddeyes—old white tom with a blue eye and a green eye; scarred viciously  
Mate: Blueberry

Dewcloud—blue-gray she-cat with green eyes

Blueberry—black-and-white she-cat with dark blue, almost black eyes  
Mate: Oddeyes

* * *

_**WindClan-**_

**Leader:**  
Duskstar—an ash-colored tabby tom with amber eyes

**Deputy:**  
Brownspots—mottled brown tom with darker flecks  
Mate: Sheepfur

**Medicine Cat:**  
Silverfeather—silver-gray tabby she-cat

**Warriors:**

Thistlethorn—wiry brown tom with a crooked tail  
Mate: Goldenpoppy  
Apprentice: Stripedpaw

Harewhisker—a dark brown tom with amber eyes  
Apprentice: Auburnpaw

Shadefeather—black tom with amber eyes  
Mate: Cindertail

Cindertail—dark gray she-cat with amber eyes  
Mate: Shadefeather  
Apprentice: Ivypaw

Sheepfur—fluffy white she-cat with amber eyes  
Mate: Brownspots

Stoneclaw—long-haired dark gray tabby tom with a flattened face

Falconwing—long-haired brown she-cat

Snowflower—white-and-dark-cream she-cat with green eyes

**Queens:**

Goldenpoppy—pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes; mother of Seedkit, Snowkit, and Marshkit  
Mate: Thistlethorn

**Apprentices:**

Stripedpaw—gray-and-white she-cat

Auburnpaw—red-brown tom with amber eyes

Ivypaw—white she-cat with green eyes

**Elders:**

Sedgeleaf—old, small brown she-cat

Duststorm—sand-brown tom whose pelt is always dusty

Blackbird—plump, elderly black tom with amber eyes

_**

* * *

**_

_**RiverClan-**_

**Leader:  
**Blizzardstar—pale gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**Deputy:**  
Splashstream—tabby tom with unusual black stripes  
Mate: Bluepool  
Apprentice: Pondpaw

**Medicine Cat:**  
Smokewhisker—gray tom with flattened face

**Warriors:**

Mosstail—brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
Mate: Snowstorm  
Apprentice: Lilypaw

Fishtail—pale ginger tom with orange eyes  
Mate: Greengrass  
Apprentice: Frogpaw

Ambereyes—black she-cat

Swiftbrook—gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Bluepool—dark tabby gray she-cat with blue eyes  
Mate: Splashstream  
Apprentice: Larchpaw

Streamwater—gray tabby tom with unusual blue eyes

Rootclaw—brown tabby tom with orange eyes  
Mate: Maplebranch  
Apprentice: Boulderpaw

Silvermist—silver-gray she-cat with dark green eyes

Icecloud—blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes

**Queens:**

Snowstorm—snowy-white she-cat with amber eyes; mother of Skykit, Pinekit, and Mistkit  
Mate: Mosstail

Grassyleaf—pale gray she-cat with bright green eyes  
Mate: Fishtail

Maplebranch—ginger she-cat with green eyes  
Mate: Rootclaw

**Apprentices:**

Lilypaw—white she-cat with green eyes

Frogpaw—mottled pale brown she-cat

Boulderpaw—dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Larchpaw—dark gray tom with green eyes

Pondpaw—long-haired pale gray tabby she-cat

**Elders:**

Whitebelly—old black tom with a white underbelly

Sandtail—half-blind, dark brown tom with paler brown tail

_**

* * *

**_

_**ShadowClan-**_

**Leader:**  
Clawstar—huge brown tom with white paws and sharp claws  
Mate: Barkspots  
Apprentice: Sootpaw

**Deputy:**  
Oakleaf—pale brown tom with a speckled pelt  
Mate: Fernpool

**Medicine Cat:**  
Mudstripe—speckled tabby tom with long brown stripe on back  
Apprentice: Yarrowpaw

**Warriors:**

Acornheart—gray tom with orange eyes and large claws  
Mate: Whitebrook  
Apprentice: Bogpaw

Barkspots—mottled brown she-cat with green eyes  
Mate: Clawstar  
Apprentice: Specklepaw

Leopardspots—golden-brown tom with unusual pelt  
Apprentice: Shadepaw

Brightblaze—small ginger tom with a white throat  
Mate: Birdsong

Whitebrook—pure white she-cat with pale blue eyes  
Mate: Acornheart  
Apprentice: Redpaw

Flamepool—bright ginger tom with green eyes

Birdsong—gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
Mate: Brightblaze

Longscar—brown tom with two scars on his ears  
Apprentice: Blackpaw

Lizardtail—sleek gray tabby she-cat with olive eyes and a long tail  
Mate: Patchear

Patchear—brown and white tom with amber eyes  
Mate: Lizardtail

Shrewtail—golden-brown tabby she-cat

Nightfang—black tom with tawny yellow eyes

**Queens:**

Fernpool—dark cream she-cat with green eyes; mother of Lark-kit, Goldenkit, and Swiftkit  
Mate: Oakleaf

Beesting—silver she-cat with unusual black zigzags; mother of Cherrykit and Applekit  
Mate: Leopardspots

Cloverleaf—black she-cat with green eyes  
Mate: Eagleclaw (exiled)

**Apprentices:**

Bogpaw—gray tabby tom with amber eyes

Sootpaw—gray she-cat with long hair

Gingerpaw—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Shadepaw—black tom with amber eyes

Redpaw—dark ginger she-cat with dark green eyes

Blackpaw—black tom with a short tail

Yarrowpaw—gray tom with green eyes

**Elders:**

Snakefang—gray tabby tom with short fur  
Mate: Berryflower

Toadcroak—old brown tabby with a distinctive croaking voice

Berryflower—small black she-cat with amber eyes  
Mate: Snakefang

_**

* * *

**_

_**The Tribe of Rushing Water-**__**  
**_

**Tribe-Healer:**  
Teller of the Pointed Stones (Stoneteller)—light brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Prey-Hunters:**  
(toms and she-cats responsible for providing food)

Mist of the Waterfall (Mist)—gray tabby tom with amber eyes  
Mate: Song of Morning Lark (Song)

Light of Morning Sun (Light)—pale brown tom with white patches  
Mate: Cloud at Peak of the Mountain (Cloud)

Feather Dropped From Hazel Hawk (Feather)—dark brown tabby she-cat

**Cave-Guards:**  
(toms and she-cats responsible for guarding the cave)

Stone Where Hawk Stands (Stone)—gray tom with darker gray stripes

Ripple of Blue River (Ripple)—pale gray tabby she-cat with green eyes

Pool Where Minnows Dart (Pool)—brown tabby tom with orange eyes  
Mate: Chestnut That Drops From Tree (Chestnut)

Hawk That Glides Through Air (Hawk)—dark gray tom

Cloud at Peak of the Mountain (Cloud)—gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes  
Mate: Light of Morning Sun (Light)

Tree with Brown Bark (Tree)—mottled pale brown tabby tom

Fern That Waves in the Breeze (Fern)—gray she-cat with darker flecks

Storm of Snow and Ice (Storm)—pale silver tabby tom with darker spots  
Mate: Echo in Stone Cave (Echo)

**Kit-Mothers:**  
(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Chestnut That Drops From Tree (Chestnut)—deep brown she-cat with dark green eyes; nursing three kits  
Mate: Pool Where Minnows Dart (Pool)

Song of Morning Lark (Song)—small brown tabby she-cat with white paws; nursing one kit  
Mate: Mist of the Waterfall (Mist)

Echo in Stone Cave (Echo)—black she-cat with amber eyes  
Mate: Storm of Snow and Ice (Storm)

**To-Bes:  
**(tribe apprentices)

Shade of Old Tree (Shade)—dark gray tabby tom with green eyes

Glow of Full Moon (Glow)—silver-white she-cat with pale blue eyes

Trickle of Small Brook (Trickle)—brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Elders:**  
(former prey-hunters and cave-guards, now retired)

Prickle of Bramble Bush (Prickle)—brown tom with green eyes and sharp claws

Stream with Icy Water (Stream)—dark cream she-cat with pale blue eyes

_**

* * *

**_

_**BloodClan-**_

**Leader:**  
Ice—silver tabby tom with pale blue eyes

**Deputy:**  
Fang—small brown she-cat with unusually long and sharp teeth  
Apprentice: Callie

**Medicine Cat:**  
Indigo—large gray-and-white tom with very dark blue eyes

**Warriors:**

Slash—dark gray tabby tom with a white underbelly  
Apprentice: Serpent

Cliff—brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Gravel—gray tom with dark green eyes  
Mate: Briar  
Apprentice: Viola

Leaf—ginger tabby she-cat with white tipped tail  
Mate: Beak

Beak—white tom with orange eyes  
Mate: Leaf  
Apprentice: Avel

Isis—black she-cat with slanted green eyes  
Apprentice: Ivory

Jasper—dark golden-brown tabby tom with green eyes  
Mate: Willow

Willow—gray she-cat with long whiskers  
Mate: Jasper  
Apprentice: Jae

Spin—large gray tabby tom with sharp claws  
Mate: Chartreuse  
Apprentice: Mahogany

**Apprentices:**

Callie—large tortoiseshell she-cat with a long tail

Serpent—brown-and-gray tom with olive eyes

Avel—small white tom with amber eyes

Viola—chestnut-brown she-cat with blue-green eyes

Ivory—pure white she-cat with blue eyes

Mahogany—chestnut-brown tom with dark green eyes

Jae—gray tabby tom with tawny eyes

**Queens:**

Briar—tortoiseshell she-cat with dark blue eyes; mother of three kits  
Mate: Gravel

Chartreuse—pale gray she-cat with bright green eyes  
Mate: Spin

**Elders:**

Lyra—skinny ginger she-cat with green eyes

Corian—black tom with pale green eyes

Dottie—mottled gray she-cat with white speckles

_**

* * *

**_

_**Cats Outside Clans-  
**_

Fogfur—gray tom with dark amber eyes; rogue, formerly of ShadowClan

Eagleclaw—white-and-cream tom with sharp claws; rogue, formerly of ShadowClan

Spotty—"tuxedo" she-cat with pale blue eyes; kittypet

Carmel—slender silver tabby with brilliantly green eyes; kittypet

* * *

**Hurrah. Allegiances are done. Any comments on the names? Tell me, please. If you don't like a name, still tell me so I can fix it. Constructive flaming is allowed in this story - ****well, all of my stories, really -****because I know that constructive flaming is the best way to improve one's writing. Yes, the plot may sound a bit cheesy and...similar to the series, but trust me: it gets better. I hope.**

**Try and guess which of the six cats are part of the prophecy. And see if you can get the cat who refuses to go. You'll never guess who! Well...****you might, but you probably won't. Heheh :D. You'll understand my amusement later.  
**

**Again - ****R&R please!**


	2. Prologue

**First chapter! Ish...well, no. I lied. This is the prologue. It takes place in Stormcloud's POV-ish. Yes, I'm aware that Stormcloud is dead. But this prologue takes place a few moons before the actual story starts - let's say four or five? It's leaf-bare, FYI.**

**By the way, I chose ThunderClan simply because the real series is based on ThunderClan, right? So we know their camp better than, say, RiverClan. Well - no, we know RiverClan too due to a certain black she-cat with green eyes's nosiness, but it hasn't been described as much. Therefore, it's more difficult to write about, as are WindClan and ShadowClan. I'm taking the easy way out this time and sticking with the camp that's been described in the most detail. This doesn't mean that I am basing my story on ThunderClan (ick). In fact, to say that would be very far from the truth! But - okay, I've started ranting again.**

**Thanks to _Featheredwing_ for reviewing the Allegiances.**

**Oh, and before I forget: this chapter wasn't very good, due to my rather poor editing skills. Is anyone willing to be my beta for the rest of the story? Keep in mind that I am _very_ picky and selective, so don't be offended if I turn you down. That's just the way I am: picky and selective.  
**

**On with le prologue~**

* * *

The sky was a sheer black that night. The darkness was such that it was broken only by a thin crescent-shaped sliver of the moon. Even the warriors of StarClan were shining only faintly, very feebly, as though they had lost most of their luster. They could hardly be spotted amongst the black sky.

Below the sky stood a lone cat, his amber gaze fixed on the forest that lay beyond the entrance of the camp. His ears were pricked, his eyes intent as he stood alertly on guard.

A soft meow interrupted his concentration. "Is all well?"

The muscular gray tom bristled as he turned, but he relaxed upon recognizing the strong shoulders and gleaming amber eyes of his leader. "Thornstar," he murmured, dipping his head. "Yes—I haven't scented any intruders."

Thornstar nodded. "Good. Tell Lionwhisker to take your place—we need to talk. Rainfall has had a dream, and she wants to share it with us." Without waiting for a response, the powerfully-built tomcat strode off, presumably to his den.

The gray warrior hesitated for a heartbeat, startled. On any other night, he would have followed his leader's orders without another thought. But tonight…the tom shivered. Unease was prickling at his pelt as he gazed at the outside of the camp. He didn't know why, either—his ears detected no unusual noise, his nose smelled no threatening scents, and his eyes couldn't make out the faintest shape of a potential threat. Yet something was tugging at his fur, yanking his whiskers, whispering, _this is bad, very bad_…

Doing his best to shake the disquiet off, the ash-colored tom padded to the warriors' den. Slipping between the branches that screened the den with a dexterity that belied his brawny shape, he stepped inside, letting the warmth of multiple sleeping cats' bodies soak into his cold body before remembering his task. The ThunderClan cat scanned the mass of warriors until his amber eyes picked out a large tabby tom with long, golden fur that gave him his name, curled up into a ball. "Lionwhisker," he hissed, pawing his way over to prod the lump of fur.

"Wha—wuzzat?" mumbled Lionwhisker, his tawny tail flicking into the air defensively.

"Wake up, Lionwhisker!" The gray cat poked his replacement again, more firmly this time.

Lionwhisker grumbled, but at last he opened his blue eyes, dark with annoyance. "What do you want?" he snapped. "I was having a delightful dream about Creamfoot and m—" He stopped midsentence as he realized he was staring into a very irritated face. "Oh, hi, Stormcloud. Aren't you supposed to be guarding the entrance?"

"Shh!" whispered Stormcloud as a few cats stirred, ears twitching at the volume of the toms' conversation. "Mousebrain—you'll wake the whole Clan up. Thornstar wants you to switch positions with me. Now." Ignoring his Clanmate's horrified protests, he spun around and pushed his way out of the warm den, flinching slightly as the chilly air scraped across his face like a pair of unsheathed, sharpened claws. _I can hardly blame Lionwhisker__ for not wanting to be outside; it'__s freezing!_ Doing his best to ignore his discomfort, Stormcloud padded to the leader's den, where he assumed Thornstar and Rainfall were.

He was right. The two cats were sitting inside, clearly waiting for him. As Stormcloud appeared in the entrance, Thornstar nodded to him. "Sit. We have a lot to discuss."

The gray-furred tom sat obediently, paws trembling with nervousness at his leader's grim tone. Something told him that Thornstar was not in a good mood. Was he going to strip Stromcloud's deputyship from him? _He can't do that! He has no reason to_—_I've been a good deputy…_But he couldn't eliminate his apprehension—Rainfall hadn't greeted him yet, and she was one of his closest friends (mainly because she was the sister of his mate, Petalflower). Her green eyes were clouded with anxiety and fear as she stared at something only she could see, and suddenly his throat tightened with dread.

"We have a lot to discuss," Thornstar meowed. "I told you that Rainfall has had a dream from StarClan, and she wants to share it with us. Well, Rainfall," he turned to the blue-gray she-cat, "the deputy has arrived. Go ahead and tell us what you've seen."

The medicine cat nodded, looking up and seeming to notice Stormcloud for the first time. "I didn't really see anything unusual," she began, "unless you count my mentor, Cloudflight. But she regularly visits me in dreams. She comes to me with words of comfort and occasionally tells me where to find herbs and such. However…" The medicine cat's ears flattened as she took a deep breath before continuing. "However, this time, she sent me what you could consider…a warning, I suppose. Or an ominous sign. Either one isn't very good."

"I'll go with warning," murmured Stormcloud in an attempt to cheer his mate's sister up. "Warning sounds less scary than ominous sign." It worked partly; Rainfall's whiskers twitched, but only halfheartedly.

"This is no time to joke around," snapped Thornstar, muscles rippling under his sandy-brown pelt as though he were bunching them together. He looked like he was about to pounce upon invisible enemies. "Rainfall, continue."

Nodding, the small she-cat complied with the order. "Well, Cloudflight warned me that I had better start stocking up on my herbs, because I'll need every bit of medicine I can find." She shivered, staring at the leader and deputy with unconcealed trepidation. "I think she means that a lot of ThunderClan cats are going to be either wounded or sick soon."

Hackles rising, Thornstar let out a faint hiss; Stormcloud tensed as well. The forest was still recovering from a particularly rough leaf-bare. Every warrior was scrawnier and hungry; many had caught nasty bouts of greencough. A few cats had even died from it. ThunderClan were in a very weak state at the present—suffering anymore blows would just make them an easy target for enemy Clans. _It's ironic,_ the gray deputy thought grimly. _An attack will weaken us so we can be attacked again. Or perhaps a disease will weaken us so an enemy can finish us off._

"I think it's a disease," Rainfall murmured after a long period of silence. "It seems more likely than two Clans teaming up on us…"

A hush pervaded the den again, but this time the den was crackling with tension. At last, the golden-brown tomcat broke it with a sigh. "It doesn't sound like we can do anything about it now. But you'd better heed her warning, Rainfall. I want you to start stacking up on as many herbs as you can starting tomorrow—prepare for battle or disease. Each would prove to be deadly to ThunderClan at the moment."

"Mmm," agreed Rainfall. "It would be helpful if I could get an apprentice to help me."

"Go ahead and borrow one of the younger apprentices," Thornstar gave his permission. "Start looking through one of the queens' kits as well—I think Rabbitclaw's are nearing six moons." Rainfall nodded. "You may go now." The blue she-cat hastily dipped her head to each of them in turn before padding off to her own den.

Thornstar turned his piercing amber eyes onto Stormcloud. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing too worrying," the tom replied. "Cloudstripe and Frostpaw chased off two foxes—and speaking of Frostpaw, I think we'd better give her a warrior ceremony soon. A kittypet wanted to join the Clan, and I think those rogues exiled from ShadowClan a few moons ago were on our territory. Foxtail and Mallowleaf reported scenting two unfamiliar cats."

Thornstar purred—Frostpaw was his daughter. "Wonderful," he meowed, obviously bursting with pride. "Get Cloudstripe to assess her tomorrow. If all goes well we'll have a new warrior in our ranks by dusk tomorrow!" Stormcloud let out an inaudible sigh of relief; thank StarClan. Frostpaw would be a healthy, strong warrior for ThunderClan. "Now, about those rog—a _kittypet_ tried to join ThunderClan?" The deputy could hear the shock in his leader's mew. "A kittypet? And…you turned this kittypet down, yes?"

"Yeah," replied Stormcloud, knowing that Thornstar was wondering if the kittypet was anything like the legendary Firestar, who had been leader of ThunderClan many seasons before Thornstar. "But she was soft and very easy to chase off; nothing like I expect Firestar was. I don't think we'll see her again."

The tabby tom nodded, trusting his deputy's words. "Anyway, those rogues may have been the two warriors exiled from ShadowClan a moon or so ago—what were their names again? Eagleclaw and…Fogfur, I think. I heard from Clawstar that Eagleclaw is powerful, with claws almost as sharp as Clawstar's himself. Where did Foxtail and Mallowleaf scent him and Fogfur?"

"Along our borders with WindClan."

The ThunderClan leader's eyes narrowed. "Then it's their problem now," he said at last. "WindClan should be able to deal with those rogues. From what Clawstar told me at the previous Gathering, Fogfur isn't as powerful as Eagleclaw. I expect those rogues will probably move on to new territory soon, anyway."

Stormcloud mewed agreement before standing up and meowing politely, "If that's all, Thornstar, I'm going to sleep now."

A grunt that sounded like assent came from Thornstar. Dipping his head courteously, the gray tomcat turned and strode out of his leader's den.

As he picked his way back to the warriors' den using only his knowledge of the camp's layout because the blackness of night made it impossible to do so otherwise, Stormcloud heard a soft purr and caught a whiff of something that smelled wonderfully tempting. He stopped at once. "Petalflower, is that you?"

A deeper purr came this time. "Yes, it's me."

It was Stormcloud's turn to purr as his mate's delightful scent flooded the air. Even through the dark he could make out her trim shape—though that just might have been because she was standing right next to him. How Petalflower managed to find him without snagging a claw he never knew, but suddenly Stormcloud felt his tail intertwine with hers. He purred some more, wrapping his body around hers.

"I've been waiting for you," she murmured, pressing her muzzle against his. He felt lightheaded as her sweet breath flooded into his nose. "Creamfoot told me you were on guard—and I was just about to go to sleep when I noticed you padding back into the warriors' den and then Thornstar's den. So I waited."

Whenever Stormcloud was around his mate, something happened to his thought processing. He began to stammer in half-broken sentences that made him sound like he had speech impediments or a tongue problem, forget what he was thinking, forget what he was about to do, and say stupid things. It had been a nightmare trying to even befriend her during their warrior days; he'd blundered as clumsily about as a badger in most of his attempts—but for some reason, Petalflower had liked him back. And to his relief, she'd let him know that before too long. Thank StarClan, too, because if Stormcloud had had to _woo_ her…He shuddered at the thought. He probably would have been the laughingstock of the Clan.

"How are the kits?" he asked, swiping his tongue across her ear.

"They're fine," replied Petalflower. "I left them sleeping inside. I'll check on them soon."

Stormcloud swiped his tongue across her mouth. He felt Petalflower shiver, but to his surprise, she gently shook her head away. "Not tonight," she whispered. "Maybe tomorrow—but not now. We have kits, remember? And I certainly don't intend to be a queen my whole life." Her voice was teasing, but Stormcloud felt slightly hurt and embarrassed at her rejection, which just mortified him all the more. "Don't worry," added Petalflower, as though she knew what he was thinking (which she probably did, as the two were always on the same wavelength). "Soon; just not now. And speaking of our kits, you'd better come in soon and take a look at them. We need to give them names."

The deputy smiled. His mate always knew how to cheer him up. But just as he licked her ear, her bright green eyes leaped out at him. He stopped dead. Petalflower and her sister Rainfall had the same eyes; a lovely grass green. And the thought of Rainfall brought back Cloudflight's warning, which quickly shadowed all his happiness. He shuddered as he remembered the clear message it had brought: that Rainfall would soon be treating a lot of cats.

Then he looked at Petalflower, and his stomach twisted with horror. Yes, ThunderClan could not afford to lose anymore warriors than it already had. But more than that…what if Stormcloud lost Petalflower or one of his precious kits? If he did…it might be more than he could bear. Life without his kin would lack much happiness, and he wouldn't have any incentive to live besides loyalty to his Clan. Oh yes—that was still, of course, a motive for staying alive. But Stormcloud knew his mind would be twisted with grief at the loss of his mate or kits, and he might do something he regretted. Which would be worse than being dead.

"I'll be in tomorrow," he promised. "Get some rest now. Our kits need you—they can't have a tired mother now, can they?" Petalflower gave him a quick lick on the head before darting off into the nursery. Stormcloud stood there for a moment, blinking, before he turned and made his way back to the warriors' den, getting himself pricked successively by sharp branches in the process.

For a while, however, the gray warrior couldn't sleep as he shifted uneasily in his mossy nest. What if his beloved she-cat died? What if one of his little, still-unnamed kits died? Stormcloud closed his eyes and sighed. Rainfall was a brilliant medicine cat; that was for sure. But even she wouldn't be able to save every life. Some unlucky cats would die. And one of his loved ones might be one of those cats.

_But I'll never let that happen,_ vowed Stormcloud, suddenly feeling fierce determination pulsate through his body. _As long as I'm alive, I won't let my mate die. And I will protect our kits' lives with my own. I _will _keep Petalflower and my kits safe. I will protect them forever…__oh, and ThunderClan too._

And with that final, comforting thought, Stormcloud allowed his body to succumb to the increasingly-insistent calls of sleep.

* * *

**Cheesy ending, hmm? Sorry - I can almost _never_ end a chapter uncheesily. The fact that this is a prologue just makes it worse. Oh well. Be grateful I didn't choose to stage the prologue in StarClan. Now _that_ would have been as cheesy as...Swiss cheese? -blinks- Sorry. My similes get worse everyday.**

**Let me repeat myself: Stormcloud is _dead._ He's in StarClan now. I just chose him for...convenience, I suppose? To say it through the eyes of Thornstar...ickk. Why not go with the cat who's gonna die anyway? Fairness is a virtue, young one. -waggles finger annoyingly-**

**This chapter was kinda romantic, I know. But the rest of the fic isn't too romantic. There may be a few mild romances, but the majority of them will probably be friendships with hints at romance.  
**

**Again, I really need a beta for the next chapter. -grimace- First chapter; I can't have it ruined by my nubbiness. If anyone would like to beta my story, show me your beta profile. I'll tell you if I'm interested or not. Chapter One will be posted tomorrow, or Saturday. Reviewers: if one of you would like to beta this story, tell me in a review. You have Friday to do that. By Friday night, if nobody is interested, I'll just go...search one. o-o Yes, nooby me...how _do_ you tell someone you want them to beta your story, anyway? PM them? Ahh well.  
**

**R&R please~ :D.**


	3. Chapter One

**Woohoo! The first _official_ chapter of the story has arrived! Shockingly, I've kept my promise: this chapter is not from a ThunderClan cat's POV. It's from a WindClan cat's POV, instead. Did you guess the WindClan chosen cat correctly? If so, props to you! If not...well, go ahead and read anyway :].**

**Whoa - we get to hear the prophecy for the first time! Huzzah!**

**Special thanks to _Grassy Leaves_, my great new beta. She's got some fantastic stories written; she's a great author! Go check out her profile now! You won't regret it! ...I sounded uncomfortably like a saleswoman back there, didn't I?**

**Enough with my rambling. On with the story!  
**

* * *

As night passed to dawn, the sun rose. Like a ball of flame, it instantly lit the deep blue heavens with breathtaking streaks of color—orange, pink, red, yellow.

A young she-cat sat alone in the WindClan camp, guarding the entrance from attacking claws. But she didn't look like a sentry at all; had a stranger's eyes fallen upon the young cat from a distance, they probably would have considered her a nursery queen. She was just so delicate, so dainty-pawed, with her neatly-groomed fur and bright green eyes. It was hard to believe that this cat was actually a warrior, a cat that would fight with all the strength of StarClan to protect her Clan.

But if said stranger had gone closer to the she-cat, they would see how she stared at the entrance. Her eyes never blinked, and she never moved from her position at the entrance. She was so still that it looked like roots had sprung from the ground and bound her to the spot.

Then, for the first time in several hours, a new scent drifted into the young warrior's nose. She tensed, about to yowl an alarm to her sleeping Clanmates, but relaxed as she recognized the cat. It was her leader, Duskstar.

"Snowflower," greeted the WindClan leader as he padded up to her. "Any sign of intruders?"

Because she wasn't sure if she was still required to be silent, Snowflower shook her head. A raspy noise rose from her leader's throat, and amusement glinted in his pale amber eyes as he meowed, "You may speak now. Your silent vigil is over."

The pale-coated she-cat dipped her head. "Thank you, Duskstar."

The gray tom nodded. A few more scents told Snowflower that two more of her Clanmates were approaching: Thistlethorn, a dark brown tom, and his apprentice Stripedpaw had woken up.

"Morning, Duskstar," greeted Thistlethorn briskly. "The sun is rising—shall I wake another cat up for a dawn patrol?"

As always, Snowflower was taken aback at the sinewy tomcat's almost-rude manner towards Duskstar, before she remembered that he was one of Duskstar's senior warriors and best friends. Thistlethorn was known for his prickly tongue and equally-sharp claws. Snowflower was glad that he hadn't been _her_ mentor—Thistlethorn was reportedly very tough on his apprentices. Her mentor had been Brownspots, the WindClan deputy. And though he hadn't been as demanding as Thistlethorn, he had taught Snowflower—then Snowpaw—well.

_But I'm not just Snowpaw anymore,_ the she-cat suddenly remembered. _I'm Snow_flower,_ warrior of WindClan._ She loved her new name too—she'd worried that Duskstar might have given her a name like Snowpelt, or Snowtail. They were perfectly fine names, of course, but they were boring! Snowflower was a much better name than Snowtail, for sure.

"No need," replied Duskstar calmly. "I'll come along. Snowflower, would you care to join us too?"

The she-cat blinked. What she _really_ wanted to do was catch up on her sleep after staying up all night, keeping an eye out for nonexistent threats. But she was also aware that she had only just been made a warrior and therefore couldn't speak her mind as much as she pleased, so she nodded, suppressing an inward sigh. _Oh well_—_I haven't been getting much sleep lately anyway_…they_ keep haunting me…_

"Hey, Snowpaw—I mean Snowflower!" exclaimed Stripedpaw as the four cats bounded off into the forest to patrol their territory.

Snowflower shook her head to clear her mind of such poisonous thoughts. "Hey, Stripedpaw. Still not used to calling your old denmate Snowflower, then?"

"You bet I'm not," replied her friend. "It's going to be so weird with you not by my side tonight. I'll be stuck with—" she paused to let out a dramatic sigh, "—_Ivypaw_. Not that I don't like Ivypaw, but she's so…formal. I guess that's what happens when you have a fussy mentor like Cindertail, but still…"

Snowflower chuckled as Stripedpaw rolled her water-blue eyes. Her friend had very definite opinions about mentors; she'd been, surprisingly, pleased when Thistlethorn had been named her mentor. Snowflower thought that the small gray-and-white she-cat was perhaps the only apprentice that would've expressed such delight when Thistlethorn's name had been called. She was also probably the only cat who could put up with Thistlethorn's grumpy manner.

As the WindClan patrol padded on, a delicious smell flooded into Snowflower's scent glands. A rabbit was darting about a few fox-lengths in front of them, unaware of the predators that lurked behind it.

Apparently Thistlethorn caught the scent as well, for he stiffened and sprung off. The rabbit had obviously heard him, and it dashed quickly off at once. But Thistlethorn was faster; he snared the rabbit with one claw and ended its struggling with one bite to the throat.

Duskstar quickened his own pace to catch up with the brown warrior. "Good catch," he praised. Thistlethorn accepted the compliment with a grunt, pushing the rabbit with one paw to his friend. The two toms began gulping down the fresh-kill.

"Huh!" muttered Stripedpaw beside Snowflower, eyes flashing with indignation, as the two younger cats stood awkwardly to the side. "They could at least offer us a bite or two…but _no_, they're keeping it to themselves…"

Snowflower had to snicker at her friend's comical vexation, but a sudden memory flashed into her brain at the sight of the fresh-kill. One she hadn't dwelt on for several moons now…one that was unwelcome.

_A seven-moon-old Snowpaw was at a Gathering, looking around with wide eyes and absorbing everything. Apprentices, warriors, and elders were chatting comfortably with cats from other Clans. She saw old Blackbird, who always told tall tales about his many brave actions as a warrior, bragging to Oddeyes of ThunderClan and Berryflower of ShadowClan, Falconwing (then Falconpaw) talking with a group of ShadowClan apprentices, and even snappish _Thistlethorn_ standing with Splashstream, the deputy of RiverClan. Snowpaw suddenly felt small and silly standing there all alone as she watched every other cat mingle with different cats, and she hastened to join a random group of apprentices, standing a few mouse-lengths away from her._

"_Who are you?" growled one of them. From his marshy scent, Snowpaw guessed he was from ShadowClan._

_A tabby she-cat flicked his ear with her tail. "Be polite!" To Snowpaw she added, "Hello. I'm Shrewpaw. I come from ShadowClan, along with this rude furball here. His name is Nightpaw." With her tail she indicated the sleek black tom beside her. "Where do you come from?"_

"_It's obvious, isn't it?" A drawl caught her attention as a reddish-brown tabby tom stepped forward. "You can tell from her rabbity smell that she's from WindClan. Only WindClan cats eat rabbits all the time."_

"_That isn't true!" exclaimed Snowpaw, staring at the tom in shock. He smelled of ThunderClan. "Rabbits aren't our only source of prey."_

"_Name something else you eat, then," the ThunderClan cat retorted, yawning._

"_We eat…"_

_As Snowpaw hesitated, the tabby smirked at her. "See? All you eat are rabbits. Therefore WindClan smell of rabbits."_

"_Stop it, Leafpaw," snapped Shrewpaw, cuffing him with a sheathed paw. "Smelling rabbity isn't something to be ashamed of. _You_ smell like squirrels all the time."_

_Snowpaw never heard Leafpaw's retort, as she was so flabbergasted that WindClan smelled "rabbity" to the other Clans. It couldn't be true_…_right?_

But now that Snowflower thought about it (and watched Duskstar and Thistlethorn tear the rabbit apart), she realized that it was true. All WindClan ate were rabbits. They hardly ate squirrels or voles, and they almost never saw a thrush in their territory. Mice too were rarities.

"I guess we do smell rabbity," she muttered to herself.

"What? 'Rabbity?' What kind of strange word is that?" Snowflower jumped as Stripedpaw's bewildered meow rang into her ears. She'd forgotten that Stripedpaw was beside her.

"Never mind," she replied hastily, stepping forward as Duskstar and Thistlethorn finished up their prey and stood up. Ready to continue, the four WindClan cats trotted off to patrol their boundaries once more.

"I'm hungry," moaned Stripedpaw as the four finished checking the boundaries and renewing the scent marks. "My belly is aching with anger. Can't we pick up the pace?" Without even waiting for a response from Thistlethorn, the tabby she-cat darted forward. Snowflower glanced back at the dark brown tom; his ears had flattened and he was glaring at Stripedpaw's disappearing silhouette, but he didn't try to catch up with her. He remained behind with Duskstar, who simply looked entertained.

As the three warriors padded back into the hollowed clearing, Stripedpaw was crouching by the fresh-kill pile to pick up a rabbit. Thistlethorn headed straight for his apprentice to snap, "That isn't for you. Take that to the elders first, and if there's fresh-kill left, then you may eat." Stripedpaw glared at him mutinously, but even she knew better than to argue with her mentor, and especially not a hotheaded senior warrior. So the apprentice grabbed the rabbit between her teeth and stormed off to the elders, mewing at Snowflower, "You're so lucky you don't have to do this anymore!"

Chuckling lightly to herself, Snowflower looked back at the pile. Unsurprisingly, it consisted of mostly…rabbits. No, not _mostly_ rabbits. There was nothing _but_ rabbits in the pile. Leafpaw's taunting words echoed in her head again: "_All you eat are rabbits_…_You can tell from her rabbity scent that she's from WindClan…_"

Pelt prickling with unease, the pale warrior looked back at the pile of food. It was silly to get worked up over eating rabbits, she knew, but Leafpaw had a point, as much as she didn't want to acknowledge it.

_Oh, this is silly,_ she thought sternly, forcing herself to pick up a rabbit. With the limp body dangling between her jaws, Snowflower padded over to the elders, where Stripedpaw was, surprisingly, sitting and listening to one of Blackbird's stories, eyes shining in awe and mouth agape.

The aged tom was speaking in a surprisingly smooth voice, despite his old age. Sedgeleaf, another WindClan elder, always claimed Blackbird's voice hadn't cracked yet due to his excessive storytelling to anyone who would listen. Listening to Blackbird speak, her theory wasn't surprising.

"…and with a vicious bite to the spine, the ThunderClan warrior let out a screech that sent shivers up every other cat around him. The other cats gazed at me in utmost respect, which of course was to be expected. For nobody has ever beaten the great Blackbird in battle! I was—and still am, of course—feared for my skills, for my strength, for my…oh, hello, Snowflower." The elder paused in his obviously-exaggerated yarn to nod at the startled she-cat politely. "Come to listen to one of old Blackbird's mind-boggling deeds?"

"_Old_ is the right word to describe you," spat Sedgeleaf, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. "You're growing senile, Blackbird! You were never an 'unbeatable warrior.'"

"Pah!" retorted the plump black elder. "You're just jealous because you never accumulated so much respect amongst the other Clans…"

As the two elders began squabbling (which they did regularly), Duststorm, the third elder, nodded kindly at Snowflower and Stripedpaw. "Hello, Snowflower," he said. His voice was hoarse, unlike Blackbird's. "Would you like to share our meal?"

"No, thanks," replied Snowflower. Duststorm was known for his sandy-brown pelt because it _always_ seemed to be coated with dust. In fact, Snowflower had seen Sedgeleaf trying to groom his unkempt fur once. A few heartbeats after she finished, Duststorm was dusty and dirty once more. "I have my own rabbit."

Stripedpaw blinked gratefully at her, obviously relieved that she wouldn't have to share her already-meager meal with another cat. As the three cats sat listening to Sedgeleaf and Blackbird bicker ("Blackbird, you are completely mad! No RiverClan she-cat ever called you _handsome_—or would ever want to!" "No WindClan tom ever tried to mate with you, either!" "So you admit that no she-cat tried to flirt with you?"), Snowflower thought about what she had just said to Duststorm. "_I have my own rabbit._" Yes, she supposed, it was true that WindClanners smelled…rabbity.

But then again, many of her Clanmates had also probably been told by other Clans that they smelled rabbity. Yet as Snowflower glanced around the camp all of them were eating rabbits, clearly savoring the delicious taste. So why shouldn't she?

Following her own wise philosophy, the WindClan warrior tucked into the rabbit, which _was_ lovely, full of flavor. However, she wasn't very hungry for some reason, and she pushed her rabbit to the side, stretching.

The sky was now the tint of river-water blue in stark contrast to the cobalt blue of night or the vibrant, flame-tinted setting of sunrise. It wasn't sunhigh yet, but already the sun had ascended far into the sky, glowing and radiating sunshine. A ray of the aforementioned light touched the paler fur that had prompted her parents to choose the prefix _Snow_ to be part of her name, and she stretched, basking in the warmth. But Snowflower's fur wasn't pure white like her father's. Nor did she have her mother's dark cream coat. She seemed to have, instead, a mix of both; a white pelt with dark cream patches.

Thinking about her parents always made her feel like sharp, jagged thorns had just stabbed her in the sides, so she began listening to the elders again in an effort to forget them.

As she paid attention to the elders' conversation, Snowflower realized that Sedgeleaf and Blackbird had finished quarreling, allowing the latter to carry on with his obviously untrue accounts. "Now that a certain bitter old bat has finished envying my life, I can continue describing the time I, Blackbird, former glorious warrior and current wise old elder of WindClan, took on a whole patrol of ThunderClan warriors by myself. Where was I? Ah, at the part where the ThunderClan cats were admiring my defeat of a particularly powerful warrior, hmm? Well, they were so impressed by me that they took me to their camp and began bestowing great gifts upon me…"

"Like what?" challenged Sedgeleaf, emerald eyes narrowing into glittering slits. "Clans don't 'bestow' gifts on anyone; not on a warrior _of_ that Clan, and certainly not on an enemy warrior! Besides, what could they offer besides fresh-kill and shelter? And anyway, that's more like a prison sentence in a rivaling camp!"

The two took up their verbal skirmish once more. Stripedpaw sighed as she ripped off the leg of the young rabbit she was sharing with Duststorm. "This is getting boring," she moaned, voice coming out muffled because she was talking with her mouth full.

A deep meow caused the two she-cats to glance up in surprise; Duststorm had finished his share of the fresh-kill and fallen asleep, despite his den mates' disputing. "If you're so bored then, you can go ahead and take fresh-kill to Silverfeather in her den, Stripedpaw."

It was Thistlethorn. The lean warrior was glaring at his apprentice expectantly. Stripedpaw scowled back at him. "I'm not going!" she replied fiercely, "I'm not even done with my breakfast! It's a bit overdue, you know."

Clearly peeved, the older cat opened his mouth to spit back a biting reprimand, but Snowflower interrupted before Stripedpaw and Thistlethorn began lunging at each other with claws and fangs ready to sink into flesh. "I can take it," she offered. "I'm full anyway."

The two cats stared at her as though she'd grown two tails. At last Thistlethorn nodded curtly. "But hurry up," he ordered snippily before striding off.

"Bossypaws!" Stripedpaw muttered under her breath.

"Here, take the rest," muttered Snowflower, pushing the remains of her rabbit to the evidently still-famished she-cat. "I'll fetch Silverfeather something to eat." Stripedpaw shrugged, looking irritated even though her mentor had left.

Snowflower headed into a tunnel with fresh-kill dangling from her teeth. Her mother had told her that Silverfeather's den had probably once been a rabbit burrow or badger set before the Clans arrived. Looking around the small tunnel, Snowflower thought it had probably been a rabbit burrow; badgers were too big and bulky to fit into such a tiny passageway. _That's ironic; I'm bringing a rabbit into an ancient rabbit burrow._

As she emerged into the medicine cat's den, she noticed that Duskstar was present as well; he was speaking with Silverfeather about something. Upon hearing her footsteps, the dark gray tomcat instantly stopped talking.

"Hello, Snowflower. Ooh, fresh-kill," purred Silverfeather as she padded forward to accept the rabbit. "Thanks, Snowflower. This looks nice and fat for a change."

The pale warrior laughed.

"So what brings you down here?" asked the medicine cat, her silvery pelt glowing with a strange sheen in the somewhat dark den. "I understand you're a warrior now? Oh, and congratulations, if I didn't tell you that already."

"Thank you. Well, Thistlethorn told Stripedpaw to do it, but she was eating, and you know how stingy she can get when she's eating…so I stepped in before Thistlethorn assigned her to check the elders for mouse bile for two moons."

"That Stripedpaw is too lazy for her own good," muttered Duskstar. "Perhaps I should postpone her warrior ceremony for a while." At first Snowflower stared at him in alarm, fur bristling and eyes widening, but she calmed down as she realized he was just joking.

Silverfeather rolled her eyes at him, teasing, "Now, don't be hypocritical, Duskstar. Remember when _you_ were an apprentice? You hardly ever woke up to do anything!"

Duskstar hissed, batting a paw at her playfully. "Well, what about the time y—"

"_A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one._"

Snowflower and Duskstar stared at their medicine cat as she interrupted the latter midsentence and began uttering, monotonously, what sounded like a prophecy. Silverfeather was panting heavily as she reiterated in a voice as emotionless as the one she'd just used, "_A heart turned to ice…__blood like no other…__forbidden…__splatter…__strength and courage…__six become one…__turned to ice…__unleash blood…l__ove shall splatter onto_…" And then the silver-gray tabby blinked, confusion clouding her pale emerald eyes. "Wh-what happened? I feel like I just…blanked out…"

Quick as a stormy, violent gust of air, Duskstar spun around to face Snowflower. "Say nothing of this to any cat," he warned. All the mirth and joviality had disappeared from his face. The pale-furred she-cat stared at him in shock, still stunned at the prophecy Silverfeather had just voiced. "Say _nothing_ of this to _any_ cat," he repeated. Snowflower nodded dumbly. "Right then. You may go."

Trembling, the newest warrior of WindClan darted out of the tunnel. "Hey, Snowflower!" called Stripedpaw, waving her tail cheerfully from where she sat with the elders, no doubt still listening to one of Blackbird's crazy stories. But Snowflower didn't feel quite up to sharing tongues with the loud, talkative she-cat at the moment. Instead she found herself a soft patch of ferns at the edge of the hollow and sat there by herself.

What could that mean? _A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one_…The words continued to echo in her mind until she could think of nothing else.

"Whatever it means," she murmured to herself, "one thing's for sure: StarClan's got something in stock for WindClan. Something bad."

* * *

**Uh-oh. Ominous prophecy, huh? I tried to make it not so obvious - tell me if I succeeded!**

**You may be curious why Snowflower is so obsessed with rabbits and WindClan's rabbity smell in this story. I can't tell you why Snowflower is paying so much attention to rabbits right now, but you _will_ find out about it later, I promise. It's going to play a role in the plotline...ish.**

**After reading this chapter, does Snowflower seem like a Mary-Sue to you? If so, read this again carefully. If you arrive to the same conclusion once more, er, there's nothing I can really say to tell you why she's not otherwise that won't count as a spoiler. And in all honesty, I don't blame you; I'd think Snowflower is Miss OMGTOTALPERFECTION too. But just look it over - read the wording, look at the hints I've planted. For example, why did I use a certain word in lieu of another one? ...Sound confusing? It's supposed to be that way.  
**

**Well anyway, as usual R&R please. This story has gotten around 56 hits and only 3 reviews. All you readers out there - review please! I love reviews - don't you?**


	4. Chapter Two

**Yay! Chapter Two's up. :D Of course, technically it's the fourth chapter in this story, but it's titled Chapter Two. I will never refer to a chapter by its technical name; I will always refer to a chapter by its title. So this chapter is Chapter Two, not Chapter Four.  
**

**Anywayy. This chapter is from the perspectives of two RiverClan she-cats. Did you guess who they were correctly? Or did you just read the preview on my profile? xD Well, either way, good job! Enjoy reading.**

**FYI - every chosen cat is around the same age as Snowflower, give or take a moon or so. Some were just made a warrior, er, sooner - and some were made warriors later. Can you guess why? :P**

**This chapter may be confusing because it alternates between the POVs of both cats; it starts out with one, and then it abruptly switches to the other, and then back again. It was intended to be that way, because I was too lazy and uninspired to write two chapters, one focusing on one of the chosen RiverClanners, and the other focusing on the perspective of the other cat. Sorry! T-T  
**

**Special thanks to _Grassy Leaves_, as usual. You're a great beta and an equally fantastic, if not better, author! :D  
**

* * *

"I love you, Silvermist."

The young she-cat tilted her head to gaze at the tom beside her. "You love me," was all she said. His face was bathed in shadows as they sat side-by-side on the cliff watching the full moon and the twinkling stars glow magnificently in the deep blue sky.

"Yes."

Her dark green eyes narrowed into slits. "You betrayed me…you left me for—for _her_." The last words were spat in disdain.

The tomcat didn't deny it, merely hung his head dejectedly. Begging her to forgive him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, tone so despondent that Silvermist dazedly forgot why she was angry at him. "I ran from you, tried to hide from the truth…but I came back to you as soon as I realized my mistake. I'll run a thousand pawsteps if you wish it so, catch as many fish as you want, defeat the whole of ShadowClan for you…because I love _you_ and only you, Silvermist. She is nothing compared to you—your every feature outshines hers. You are my shining star, my light in the dark. I love you."

The moment he began speaking she was his. Each one of his words was like a petal from a rose, so soft and poignant that her heart melted into a puddle. Dripping at her paws was the remains of her heart, a pool of whatever-hearts-are-made-of fluttering with joy, as though it were still embedded in her chest.

_Oh! Oh! He loves me, he really does!_ She tentatively entwined her tail with his. Silvermist thought she would explode from the love when he purred, wrapping his own tail tightly around hers.

_And now, the final task_…_finding out _who_ my love is_…The RiverClan warrior leaned closer towards the tom beside her whose face was still shadowed in the dark. Her true love…soon she would know his true identity. And then they would be mates forevermore, never again separated…

"Silvermist! Get up, you lazy furball!"

In a heartbeat, the tom vanished. As did the beautiful moonlit scenery.

_No! No!_ Silvermist wanted to yowl out loud as she realized that it had just been a dream. _I've had that dream for a whole moon now! I need to know who he is! No!_

Teeth bared viciously, the pale gray she-cat leapt to her paws, eyes blazing with anger as she searched for the one who had disturbed her dreams. _They will pay for this. I was at the good part, and they interrupted me! And besides being annoying, that's just plain rude! Didn't their mother ever teach them manners?_

"Silvermist," the voice came again, sounding amused rather than irritated this time. The RiverClan she-cat blinked curiously. That sounded like her sister…

"Oh, hi, Icecloud!" exclaimed Silvermist, doing her best not to blush with embarrassment as she saw the blue-silver she-cat standing to the side watching her lazily. Icecloud knew all about her sister's dreams. She knew every detail; from the full moon, to the tenor of Mystery Tom's meow (that was Silvermist's name for him). But that hadn't stopped the warrior's deep blue eyes from flashing in disdain, from shaking her head sympathetically. Silvermist had been affronted at first at her sister's lack of interest, but, then, Icecloud was always like that. Had always been like that…ever since their father had died. Now she knew better than to mention her encounters with Mystery Tom to Icecloud, who would merely yawn and pad off to fish.

The blue-gray warrior rolled her eyes. She knew her sister had been dreaming about "Mystery Tom" again from the way she had been swooning—in her sleep! StarClan, sometimes Silvermist could be so mousebrained…they were hardly warriors, and already Silvermist was padding after some tom. Whom she'd never even _met_ in real life before!

"Splashstream assigned us to a hunting patrol," Icecloud meowed casually. "Hurry up before he gets mad at _your_ lateness." Without another word, she spun around and trotted out of the warriors' den.

Silvermist sighed. Icecloud would never understand. She had never been in love; never felt her heartbeat stutter before it raced off again twice as quickly as before. And from her sister's gruff, barbed exterior, she probably would never be, too.

"You're late," Splashstream said coldly as Silvermist came darting out of the den. The dark gray deputy narrowed his amber eyes at his Clanmate, clearly ticked off. "You've been delaying all of us. Let's go hunt now, and have no more of this rubbish."

"Wh—but I haven't even had any fresh-kill!" protested the silver warrior, pine-green eyes widening with horror. Icecloud rolled her eyes, changing her mind. Silvermist wasn't mousebrained sometimes—she was _always_ acting as though she had thistledown for brains.

Splashstream glared at her, snapping, "Tough luck. I guess you'll have to wait until we come back, then."

From Silvermist's appalled expression, this idea clearly didn't appeal to her at all. Before she could object anymore and land herself into some kind of trouble, however, Icecloud switched her tail across her sister's mouth. "Let's _go_ now, please."

Shaking his head and sighing, the smoke-gray tomcat strode out of the RiverClan camp, his apprentice Pondpaw struggling to keep up. Icecloud flashed her sister a look before padding off to catch up with Splashstream and Pondpaw. Sometimes she and Silvermist were so different it was hard to believe they were actually _kin._

As soon as a small stream came into sight, Splashstream turned around to issue orders. "Go ahead and split up now, if you'd like," he said. "But meet back here by this bush when you've caught a few pieces of fresh-kill. And don't take too long." As he spoke, Icecloud noticed his ocher gaze lingering on Silvermist. The slender she-cat squirmed, not meeting the senior warrior's eyes. "All right—go ahead now." The deputy turned and padded off to the undergrowth around the stream, clearly aiming for some mice. Pondpaw sat down by the stream to fish.

Silvermist began edging away to the left. Icecloud's eyes narrowed as she realized her sister was trying to get away from the rest of the patrol. _Oh no_—_you're not going to dream about "Mystery Tom" right now!_ So she bounded after Silvermist. "I'm coming with you."

Silvermist shot her an angry look but said nothing. As the sisters padded next to each other, Icecloud could feel the tension quivering in the air. "Silvermist," she began.

Abruptly, the newly-made warrior swung around to glare at her with eyes so frigid that Icecloud nearly stumbled with surprise. "Let it go, will you?" she hissed angrily. "I know _your_ heart is too icy to love, but that doesn't mean mine is!" Without waiting for Icecloud's response, the silvery she-cat sprung forward startlingly swiftly.

"Silvermist, wait!" yowled her sister, taking one pawstep after the disappearing blur of silver before heaving a sigh and rolling her eyes. "Let the mousebrain go off and waste her time obsessing over some tom that doesn't even exist," she grumbled. "If she _wants_ Splashstream to assign her to fetch moss for the elders, then let her. _I'll_ do as I'm supposed to."

The blue she-cat surveyed her surroundings with clear cerulean eyes. She didn't even know where she was now, thanks to a certain moonstruck she-cat confused about the line that separated dreams from reality. _Oh well,_ Icecloud reasoned at last, sitting down on the bank of the stream, _I might as well catch some fish anyway, even if Silvermist doesn't_.

A rustling of ferns behind her caused the young warrior to spin around, claws unsheathed and muscles tense. At last a gray cat with a face that looked like it had been trampled roughly upon by Twolegs emerged from the bushes, muttering to himself and narrowing his eyes at the ground. "Water _mint_…_tansy_ leaves…hmm…"

"Oh, hello, Smokewhisker," mewed Icecloud politely, inclining her head towards the RiverClan medicine cat.

"Where could that tansy be…?"

"Hello, Smokewhisker," Icecloud said, raising her voice. She'd forgotten that the medicine cat was partly deaf, though one could get along just fine with him if they talked loudly enough.

The gray tom jumped. "Wha—attack! Graarr! Oh, hi, Icecloud. You startled me there, appearing out of nowhere…" He nodded to her and continued glaring at the ground, chanting the name of various herbs under his breath: "Tansy…water mint…celandine…rush…"

It was well-known throughout the Clan that Smokewhisker could go slightly crazy sometimes, though usually this only occurred when he couldn't save a patient (which, thankfully, didn't happen too often). But right now he seemed to be calm, so Icecloud meowed loudly, "Do you need help looking for those herbs?" As the words floated out of her mouth, Icecloud couldn't help but think that there was something wrong with that sentence. She immediately checked it for courtesy in her head, but it seemed to be polite enough…

The medicine cat's pale olive eyes stretched wide. "Sure, but aren't you on a hunting patrol?"

Icecloud shrugged dismissively. "Hey, I don't really want to fish anyway. And I'm kind of lost, so this is a good excuse to use when I talk to Splashstream again…now what herbs were you looking for again?"

Blinking, Smokewhisker hesitated before replying, "Er…well, we're by a stream, so I'd like to catch me some water mint. It's got big green leaves and pale purple flowers. Water mint usually grows around…water, though it can also grow in damp earth if the soil has enough moisture in it. Think you can find me some?"

"Way ahead of you." Icecloud had already turned around and was scanning the small stream for any signs of water mint. Sure enough, there was a clump of something that resembled Smokewhisker's description of water mint just floating in the water. So she dropped into the stream, feeling a tingly sensation as startled minnows swerved around her legs, grabbed the herb, and waded her way back onto land. "Enough?"

"Plenty," purred Smokewhisker. "Now if you'd help like to help me search for some celandine, that'd be great."

The two RiverClan cats worked at finding herbs for several more minutes until at last, Smokewhisker had accumulated a pile of water mint, celandine, rush, poppy seeds, and dock leaves. "Great!" Smokewhisker was tying the herbs up in a large green leaf. "Thanks, Icecloud. This would have taken me a sunrise to collect without your help."

"No problem." Icecloud watched the smoky-gray medicine cat bustle about with all the herbs. Again, something didn't look right with that picture…and then she remembered what it was. "Why are you collecting so many herbs now, anyway?"

Smokewhisker froze just as he had finished bundling the plants together. He stared at her warily. "Why do you ask?"

"Ah, out of curiosity," the blue-furred she-cat returned lazily. "After all, don't you usually just collect one herb at a time? Got a special reason for this?"

The tom's mouth began working as it opened and closed several times, similar to a fish's as it swims underwater. He seemed about to answer when a loud call rang out: "Icecloud!"

"There's Splashstream," mewed Smokewhisker quickly, "bye!" In a burst of speed, he darted into the bushes, herbs dangling from his mouth.

Icecloud let out a snarl of annoyance, sinking her claws into the ground. She had just begun to mull over Smokewhisker's odd behavior when another yowl, this time louder and angrier, screeched through the forest. "_Icecloud! _Come back _now_!"

Brooding over Smokewhisker's reluctance to answer her question, Icecloud padded back to the original meeting spot, not even noticing that she now remembered the way there. At last Splashstream's irritated face came into view, and the RiverClan deputy's anger was…legendarily fearsome, for lack of a better phrase. "What took you so long? And—" Shock glinted in his yellow-brown eyes as he realized Icecloud was carrying no prey—"_where's_ your fresh-kill?"

Pondpaw and Silvermist watched as her sister blinked innocently at the furious tomcat. "Oh; I saw Smokewhisker out collecting herbs and helped him out." Silvermist winced as Splashstream drew in a single breath. Her sister was about to receive one of the RiverClan deputy's famous scoldings.

But his next words were a shock to every cat, even Icecloud: "Oh…I see. Well…let's go back to camp now, then."

Silvermist's dark, pine-green eyes widened. Pondpaw just blinked, tawny-orange gaze slightly confused, before the pale gray she-cat darted ahead after her mentor. _What the_—_I thought Splashstream was going to explode at Icecloud and plunge into a loud, furious lecture no one listens to for sure!_

Glancing at Icecloud, she saw that her sister shared the same thoughts: The gray she-cat wore a look of bewilderment…but thoughtfulness as well. "Did you hypnotize him or something?"

Icecloud blinked at the sudden query. "No…but it's weird. I get let off the hook for helping Smokewhisker collect lots of herbs? That's not like Splashstream at all."

"No," agreed Silvermist. The two she-cats began trotting back to camp. Hunger momentarily forgotten, Silvermist asked her sister, "What do you mean 'lots of herbs?' I thought Smokewhisker usually only collects one at a time. Didn't he say it's 'fresh, clean, and easy-to-eat' that way?" Smokewhisker was well-known for his unusual habits, such as singing or chanting to himself the name of the herb he was hunting for, but he was best-known for refusing to collect more than one herb at a time.

Icecloud shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know…but when I asked him why he was collecting so many, he stalled for time and darted off when Splashstream called me. Weird, huh?"

"Definitely," Silvermist mused.

As the fresh-kill pile came into sight, Icecloud promptly forgot about the medicine cat and deputy's strange behaviors and headed straight towards the prey. But Silvermist hung back. A thought struck her—Smokewhisker had a specific reason for collecting herbs, all right. Did Splashstream know this reason? And since he was only the deputy…Blizzardstar must know as well!

Silvermist looked around the camp for the light-gray tabby leader. Spotting her sitting alone underneath the shade of an apple tree, the young warrior instantly trotted towards her. "Blizzardstar," called Silvermist.

Elegantly-shaped ears swiveled in the air as the dainty she-cat paused from chewing her plump fish. Blizzardstar started in surprise as she saw none other than Silvermist stepping towards her. "Yes?"

"Blizzardstar," began Silvermist, "why is Smokewhisker collecting more than one herb at a time?"

The pale gray tabby froze. Startled azure eyes stared into pine-green slits. "I—" Blizzardstar paused, looking down at her freshly-caught fish to play for time. "I can't answer you that, Silvermist. I'm sorry."

"So you know why, then," Silvermist said carefully.

Another pause. "Yes," Blizzardstar meowed at last, sounding equally guarded.

The dark emerald gaze had grown icier. "I should have expected as much." Before Blizzardstar could reply, Silvermist padded off to join Icecloud.

"Welcome back," greeted the blue-gray cat. "I got you a fish before old Fishtail took it all." She swiped a paw at a passing ginger cat. The tom stared at her and paused, light orange fur fluffing up briefly, before shaking his head and resuming his journey to the nursery.

Silvermist purred with amusement. "At least there's _one_ cat I can trust here." As she took a bite of the shimmering fish, she felt Icecloud stiffen beside her. "I asked Blizzardstar. She didn't tell me anything."

Icecloud looked like she wanted to say "Big surprise" very much, but she refrained from speaking as usual.

"Should we ask together? Maybe that will—"

"No."

Silvermist opened her eyes in mock surprise. "Hey, at least I got you to say something."

Silence greeted her words.

The silver she-cat sighed, frustrated. She wanted to continue badgering her sister, but she knew Icecloud would just keep silent or go eat with some other cat. So she changed the subject, intending to nail Icecloud when she wasn't expecting it. "There's a Gathering in a few sunrises…looking forward to going?"

"Yeah. I want to see other cats for a change; I'm tired of this boring old camp," complained Icecloud, rolling over onto her back dramatically. "I'm going to get all the gossip from ThunderClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan…"

"We _are_ RiverClan, mousebrain," Silvermist retorted. "And, you know, Blizzardstar might not even choose you to go."

All playfulness was lost as Icecloud clammed up once more. The lithe blue-gray cat merely glared as Silvermist mewed doggedly, "You know you can't avoid it forever. You'll have to face it someday, Icecloud. You can't keep running from the truth."

"I'll stop running when you stop fawning over your stupid 'Mystery Tom,'" Icecloud retorted.

Silvermist was instantaneously stung, forgetting about her initial objective. "Hey! He is not _stupid_—he's brave, touching, handsome, smart, a good fighter and hunter, fast…" She trailed off, staring dreamily into the sky. "He's my _dream tom_."

Icecloud snorted. "How can you know he's brave, smart, a good fighter and hunter, and fast if you've never even met him? And you've never even seen his face, so how can you tell he's handsome? What if he's as ugly as…as…" she stared around the camp, searching for an ugly tom, "…as…Swiftbrook!"

"Swiftbrook isn't that ugly."

"Well, he'd make a prettier she-cat than a tom." Icecloud stared critically at the gray tabby tom, sharing tongues with Ambereyes. "He's got lovely blue eyes with divinely long eyelashes, yes, but they'd look much nicer on a female cat. He's prettier than Ambereyes, mind you, but then again…that's not much of an achievement."

Chuckling, Silvermist batted a sheathed paw at Icecloud. "Well, anyway, I guess there's no use trying to persuade you into facing the facts, eh?"

"No use at all," agreed Icecloud cheerfully.

"Then I guess we'll just have to figure it out ourselves. But it would be so much easier if—"

Once again, Icecloud cut Silvermist off. "Pathetic. It's _definitely _not as fun. We'll just have to resort to the old-fashioned method of figuring stuff out: Spying, stalking, and lying! Doesn't that sound much better?"

"Not really."

Ignoring Silvermist's pessimism (which per se was odd, seeing as Icecloud was usually the pessimist, whilst Silvermist was the optimist), the sleek gray she-cat exclaimed, "I knew you would think so! We can do it, don't worry—after all, we're sisters. _Sisters_ stick together." Silvermist winced at the sudden harshness of Icecloud's tone. "Sisters work together. We can do it."

Looking into Icecloud's determined blue eyes, Silvermist almost believed it. Almost. But something held her back from accepting it as true.

Common sense.

* * *

**A bit of a wry ending, wouldn't you say? Befits Icecloud though x].  
**

**Silvermist and Icecloud - aren't they just the dynamic duo? One's a hopeless romantic who tends to mix up Dreamworld with reality, and one's a sarcastic, rather acid-tongued pessimist. Needless to say, they're both pretty interesting to write about! Though I must admit, I think I prefer writing 'bout Icecloud a little more****.**** ^^ It's just so _fun_ writing from her POV! xD  
**

**R&R please. Concrit is wonderful, flames are acceptable, and praise is appreciated as well. I'll be updating soon; around...early to mid next week, shall we say? I may publish before or after that, so...yeah. I should have Chapter Three up by next Friday at the absolute latest though. :D**

**ThunderClan is next! Keep on guessing who the ThunderClan chosen cat is - who knows, maybe you'll actually get it right!  
**


	5. Chapter Three

**I'm back! :D Yes, I'm not dead, surprisingly. Sorry about the long wait. I made this chapter extra-long, though! -smiles-**

**Thanks to _Grassy Leaves_ and my reviewers as usual. Special thanks to _Shadow Before the Storm_ for offering my first concrit and to Carmel Twix. I hope you like what Carmel's going to be doing in a few chapters!**

**I foreshadowed something here, but I doubt you'll find it; it's really...small. And definitely something that you'd miss, if you were skimming over it in a hurry. Just remember: every sentence in my story has a place and serves a specific purpose. There, that's a pretty big hint right there! :D**

**Oh, and Twixy - I put in our inside joke. xD Try and find it!  
**

**Time for the ThunderClan cat's cameo and the first dream from StarClan to occur to one of the chosen cats. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

"Honeyfur! Honeyfur!"

Every queen in the nursery except the one being called reluctantly tore their attentions away from their kits to shoot a tomcat who'd just skidded to a halt in front of the nursery entrance a cold glare. They simultaneously hissed warningly, before returning to their beloved litters. The tom flinched back from the hostile looks before padding into the ThunderClan nursery cautiously, meowing, "Hi, Honeyfur!"

"Hi, Lightpaw," returned the pale ginger-brown she-cat, dark amber eyes appraising the apprentice's disheveled, golden-brown fur critically. "What's gotten you all fired up?"

"I'm going to be a warrior today! A warrior! _Finally!_" Once again, Lightpaw's yowl was so loud that the oldest nursery queen, Creamfoot, broke off from murmuring gently to her kits.

"Do you mind?" the pale tan tabby spat, her azure eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Petalflower and I are trying to raise kits here, if you hadn't noticed. And so is your mother. So quiet down or leave."

"_Sor-ry,_" muttered the soon-to-be warrior, rolling his pale blue eyes at Creamfoot's back and whispering, "Meanfoot!"

"What was that?" the angry she-cat hissed, baring her teeth.

The small apprentice stepped back from the bristling she-cat, ducking behind his mother. "I—nothing!"

"Good. And StarClan, let it stay that way." The queen sniffed disdainfully, turning her back on him to gently rasp her tongue over her kits' ruffled pelts.

The third nursery queen, a tortoiseshell she-cat with bright green eyes by the name of Petalflower, rolled her eyes sympathetically at Lightpaw. "Oh, come on, Creamfoot. We all know you have a soft spot for Lightpaw. No need to be prickly around _us_—Honeyfur and I have eyes, unlike the majority of the toms out there. Isn't that right, Honeyfur?"

"Definitely," agreed Lightpaw's mother as she shifted her kits closer to her body. "Let's hope Lightpaw turns out to be one of the few toms in the minority."

"I should think so," Creamfoot chuckled. "You brought him up excellently, Honeyfur—well, when he was still a kit, at least. Now he just runs wild, but there's nothing any cat can do about that. Anyway, I still think you should have another litter—kits are so rewarding! Not all of them turn out misguided and evil, you know."

Honeyfur let out a hoarse purr of laughter. "Thankfully none of my kits have ended up as villains yet. And Foxtail and I agreed that Eaglekit, Graykit, and Drizzlekit would be our last kits. Being pampered in here is nice, I suppose, but I miss being outside, feeling the sunshine on my face and the breezes carrying the fresh scent of leaves." She sighed wistfully as if to emphasize her feelings, so the other queens could understand where she was coming from.

Creamfoot nodded, and as the queens went on discussing matters that only she-cats nursing kits understood, Lightpaw began feeling rather awkward, and he shifted uncomfortably from paw to paw. At last, as Creamfoot was rambling on about some lovely clearing she'd found in the forest several moons ago, the tedium of the conversation grew too, well, _tedious_ to bear for a heartbeat longer, and he blurted out, "Honeyfur, I'm going to be a warrior!"

"It's rude to interrupt others, Lightpaw," Honeyfur chided.

At that, the long-haired apprentice nearly exploded into little shreds. "But you just _forgot_ me when Creamfoot starting prattling on about some place in the woods when she wasn't quite so…ancient." The older queen bristled, her hot blue gaze giving a new meaning to the phrase _if looks could kill._ Fortunately for Lightpaw, he didn't see Creamfoot's death stare. "Was I supposed to sit here and just _listen_? No; I just need you to say a simple 'Congratulations,' or 'Good job, Lightpaw!' That's it. And then I'll be on my way."

"Oh, go on," Creamfoot urged, clearly still irritated, as Honeyfur hesitated, clearly unsure as to whether she should scold her son or praise him. "Congratulate him—it'll get the annoying mousebrain out of our fur quickly!"

Honeyfur chuckled, shaking her head wryly. "Congratulations, Lightpaw."

"Now go away," muttered Creamfoot, narrowing her eyes at the ThunderClan apprentice. Out of the corner of his eyes, Lightpaw saw Petalflower flick the other she-cat with her tail.

Ignoring the nursing queen's words, Lightpaw pressed himself against his mother. "Thanks," he meowed, looking like a little kit again with tufts of fur sticking up haphazardly and light blue eyes burning excitedly. Honeyfur merely licked his ear gently, and for a heartbeat gold fur mingled with gold fur. Then Lightpaw straightened, and he nodded formally to the nursing queens before dashing out once more.

"I _knew _you loved Lightpaw deep down," he heard Petalflower meow teasingly to Creamfoot as he scurried off.

"Lightpaw," called a small, auburn-pelted tom as the tawny apprentice bounced into the heart of the camp—his mentor and father, Foxtail. The senior warrior's pale blue eyes swept over his apprentice briefly. "Come along, now. You and Rosepaw are on your final hunting assessment before the ceremony. Don't dawdle."

"Yes, Foxtail." Lightpaw felt a prickle of resentment at the final sentence—after all, he wouldn't "dawdle" during such an important event!—but he ignored it, letting his exhilaration swell through him instead. If all went well, he would be sitting outside tonight keeping a silent vigil with Rosepaw, the other apprentice. His father nodded at him, rare amusement flaring in his gaze for a short heartbeat, before flicking his bushy tail and padding off.

Lightpaw sprang after him, feeling an inexplicable spurt of enthusiasm fuel his paws, and darted past his mentor to where he smelled Rosepaw and her mentor Dovewing, the deputy of ThunderClan. The minute taupe tabby apprentice's cerulean eyes were trained on a pale gray butterfly flapping about in the breeze. Suddenly one of her creamy-white paws darted out to snag the butterfly with thorn-sharp claws—but the beautiful creature danced gracefully out of the way and flew off.

"Right," Dovewing mewed crisply, her brisk voice recapturing Lightpaw's attention, "your final assessment has come. Impress Foxtail and me, and both of you shall become warriors by dusk." Her cool amber eyes slid over to Lightpaw; the tomcat flinched as he remembered Thornstar's postponement of his warrior ceremony. Okay, so Lightpaw had refused to check the elders for ticks…and so maybe he'd been kind of late to clear out their bedding…but he'd still done it in the end! Seven sunrises later wasn't _that_ far off, and at least he'd had the decency to do it instead of procrastinating for another few sunrises. But Thornstar's decision to delay his warrior ceremony for half a moon had been completely uncalled for. Extremely unjust. It wasn't fair—his best friend Leafstorm had received _his_ warrior name right on time. Leafstorm hadn't been the best caretaker to the elders either, and _he'd_ been made a warrior half a moon earlier than Lightpaw. Definitely _not_ fair.

"You will both hunt by yourselves," Foxtail continued, breaking into his son's reverie. "We will be watching, so do your best to catch as much prey as you can. Be back by sunhigh. Remember, Dovewing and I will be monitoring you the whole time—we will judge your progress. If you do a good job, you both will have warrior names when twilight falls." Rosepaw's light brown tail lashed from side to side, and her eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Lightpaw felt excitement crawl up his spine as well; it was finally time to become a warrior! After half a moon of enduring Leafstorm's mocking words and Foxtail's disappointment, it was finally time for him to earn his warrior name.

And then the thrill-inspiring word came. "Go."

The instant Dovewing uttered the word, Rosepaw and Lightpaw leapt off in different directions. The sand-furred tom scurried to the Sky Oak, where he had caught his first mouse. It was only fitting that he killed his last prey as an apprentice here before he began his long-awaited life as a proud warrior of ThunderClan.

It was not long before a tiny thumping caused his ears to swivel silently around. There it was…a squirrel, scavenging for acorns along the thick, ingrained roots of the Sky Oak. Lightpaw crept up behind the future fresh-kill, checking himself carefully before he pounced, taking its life with a quick nip to the spine. Proudly, he kicked earth over the limp body before taking off again for some more prey.

From time to time, the senior apprentice caught glimpses of chestnut fur brushing through the shrubbery, making a slight crackling noise—clearly Foxtail. The blatant presence of his mentor ruffled his pelt, but only slightly; he _needed_ to stay calm today. Lightpaw knew he had to really impress Foxtail in order to become a warrior; his father had been very upset to hear the grim news regarding his first-born. Ever since, Foxtail had acted like his son was still just a kitten, playing rowdily outside the nursery and getting into all sorts of mischief (which, admittedly, he still was, though in more sophisticated ways). Lightpaw had not enjoyed the kit-treatment in the slightest and knew he would have to work even harder than Rosepaw if he wanted his father's respect back.

A small pile of prey lay underneath the soil when the sun rolled into the core of the sky. Lightpaw began digging it up and waved his tail triumphantly to where he had last seen his father crouching. "I'm done, Foxtail! See how much prey I've caught?"

Only soft strains of birdsong could be heard for a few heartbeats until Foxtail emerged from a bush. "Well done," he meowed curtly, nodding at the mound of fresh-kill his apprentice had accumulated. "Let's take this back to the camp."

"Am I becoming a warrior, then?"

To Lightpaw's annoyance, Foxtail hesitated, staring into his son's face contemplatively. "I'm not a kit anymore!" the tomcat longed to yowl. But he stood patiently, only squirming slightly, as his father evaluated his apprentice's skills, ice-blue gaze clouded with uncertainty. At last the reddish-brown warrior nodded, very slowly. "I'll talk to Dovewing and Thornstar about it. Come along, now." Foxtail's slightly patronizing tone made his son want to howl with frustration even though he'd just been given wonderful news—obviously, despite his exemplary hunting, Lightpaw was still a cat that needed to be watched in his father's eyes, that couldn't be trusted to be a warrior. _When will he accept that I'm _not_ a helpless kit anymore?_ A small voice reminded him that if Lightpaw hadn't put off tending to the elders for so long, he would be a warrior by now and still have his father's respect, but he ignored that, of course.

Still fuming as father and son padded back into the small clearing Dovewing and her apprentice were in, Lightpaw almost didn't notice Rosepaw's delight until the tiny she-cat threw herself at his face, shrieking, "Lightpaw, Lightpaw, I passed! I'm going to be a warrior by sunset!"

"Same here," the older apprentice meowed.

Dovewing's sand-brown eyes flashed with amusement as she surveyed her unusually-gregarious apprentice before turning around to catch up with Foxtail, whom had already started the trek back to camp. As Rosepaw shivered and squealed about what she wanted her warrior name to be, Lightpaw nodded and _mmm_-ed in the right places, keeping mostly to himself as he seethed with indignation at his father's kit-treatment. _I'm about to become a warrior now_—_I'm not some helpless kit who needs his father to protect him all the time! I wish Foxtail could see that._

A sudden spurt of misery lowered his pale eyes so that they stared at his paws. _I wish I could get Foxtail to respect me again._

"Roseflight, d'you think? Or maybe Roseleaf? I hope I don't get Rose_fur_—that's just a horrible name, so plain! Besides, how can a cat have rose-colored fur? Cats aren't pink," Rosepaw chattered. Lightpaw mumbled an appropriate _mmm_ as the younger she-cat declared, "I hope I get the name Rosepetal! Don't you just love that name?"

A grunt sufficed to satisfy Rosepaw, and she went on about her diverse opinions on what warrior names should sound like ("I've always hated the name Ratkit—how _could_ a queen name her kit 'Rat?' It's horrible—only ShadowClan would do that, and even they might not be so vile…") until, at last, the ThunderClan camp came into view.

Muttering a hasty goodbye to Rosepaw, Lightpaw darted forward to find Leafstorm and tell him the good news. The russet tom was standing idly by the nursery. Only his grass-green eyes were moving, flitting about faster than a minnow, startled by the murky shadow of an approaching RiverClan cat, swims in a pond.

"Hey, Leafstorm," called Lightpaw, unnecessarily loudly, charging up to his friend. Inside the nursery he heard a very loud grunt of annoyance, while several shrill mewls rose into the air.

His friend didn't move at first. At last he nodded lazily to Lightpaw, who bristled as he realized Leafstorm was purposely making the gesture insulting. "Hey, 'paw. What's gotten your tail in a knot?"

Lightpaw glared at the other tom, hackles rising at Leafstorm's nickname. "Quit referring to me as 'paw," he spat, forgetting about his exciting information. "You are in no way my superior—you're a lousy hunter and fighter, you're pitifully weak, you have thistledown for brains—"

A purr rumbled in Leafstorm's throat. "Ah—I don't think you should be saying that when all of those qualities apply to you. Makes you a hypocrite, doesn't it?"

His littermate snarled ferociously, unsheathing his claws instinctively to rip the smug smirk off Leafstorm's face. But he forced himself to relax upon remembering that Leafstorm had always liked to get under other cats' fur. His cool, unruffled demeanor only goaded his victims (and amused Leafstorm) even more. "Well, as I was saying," Lightpaw continued, soothing his annoyance by slapping his tail across his friend's face, "I'm going to be made a warrior tonight! Do you think I'll get a good name?"

The auburn tom sighed patiently. "Well, it doesn't really matter—_Light_ goes with practically anything. True, it's not as easy to use as, for example, _Leaf_, but it still flows with a lot of suffixes, really. You could be Lightfur or Lightear or Lightheart—no cat would disagree with Thornstar's selection. Or care, really."

"Well, _leaf _can't go with _fall_," retorted Lightpaw, a little defensively.

Leafstorm rolled his eyes, undaunted. "Fine, but it goes with anything else. Leafspots, Leafwhisker, Leafsong…"

"Leafsong is a feminine name," the apprentice returned. It was, really, a rather weak retort, but it was the best—albeit only—one that came to mind at the moment.

Apparently Leafstorm shared his opinion; the chestnut tom stretched his jaws deliberately in a huge, slightly affronting yawn without even deigning to address Lightpaw's snappy retort. "Whatever. _Light_ goes with just about anything; you'll be fine. I'm getting bored of this pointless conversation, so I'm going to go." Without another word he whisked off, long tail lifted high into the air.

Lightpaw stared after Leafstorm for a couple of heartbeats, slightly irritated as usual at his friend's indifference, cold and grating as a wind from leaf-bare. But then again, he reminded himself, Leafstorm had _always_ been like this, reticent and detached to the last. Yet somehow, his haughty manner had incited several she-cats to chase after him, and some were even from rivaling Clans (namely, Lilypaw of RiverClan, Shrewtail of ShadowClan, and Falconwing of WindClan), but loyalty to his Clan—and, of course, his unfailing reserve—had caused him to reject each she-cat flat out, to their dismay. That's what Leafstorm had told him, anyway.

The limber tom just stood there, blinking a little faster than normal, pelt shimmering in the light as though a ray of sunshine had been trapped in it. For all his apathy, Leafstorm really did care deep down; getting past his aloof exterior was the tricky part. But, of course, the cool-mannered warrior would never admit that he cared about his best friend, not to anyone at all.

Honeyfur had definitely been a good mother to Lightpaw; she still was, as a matter of fact. She was kind, of course, but she knew how to use her tongue when it was called for. She always comforted him with a few words or gestures that showed him just how much she believed in him, and she helped him see things from other cats' perspectives. But now she had two more kits to take care of…his new _siblings_. Honeyfur wouldn't always be there to encourage him anymore. _Couldn't_ be there for him.

It was the exact opposite with Foxtail, however. Lightpaw's father seemed to see him as a helpless, squirming kit mewling weakly for his mother's warm body and milk. He looked at him that way, acted towards him that way, and obviously thought towards him that way. Foxtail wasn't a queen either, didn't have kits to watch over, so of course he could be there for Lightpaw all the time. In all honesty, it wasn't really that Lightpaw didn't appreciate his father's protective streak; it was just…obviously, Foxtail didn't trust Lightpaw anymore, like he had one moon ago. He was more patronizing; always _there_ to keep an eye on him with that pale gaze that screamed, "I don't trust you, son, so I'll have to keep following you to make sure you don't get into more trouble." Clearly, he had lost enough respect for his son to recognize him as nothing more than a curious kit getting tangled into trouble on a regular basis. One that needed his father to watch over him every heartbeat of the day.

"Hey." A sudden puff of dust clouding the air around him and two smells—one delicious, one rather leafy—told him that Rosepaw had arrived. She dropped a plump squirrel, nudging it towards Lightpaw. "Care to share a squirrel?"

"Mmm, sure," he agreed, though secretly he wasn't looking forward to more of his denmate's worries about what she wanted her warrior name to be.

But to his surprise, Rosepaw didn't tackle that topic as soon as she settled herself comfortably beside him. "I'm worried," she admitted, staring at the hairy piece of prey lying at their paws.

"'Bout what?" Lightpaw leaned forward, sinking his teeth into the fresh-kill and savoring the succulent flavor. "This squirrel looks hairy, but you won't get too bad of a furball if you eat it carefully."

"Not that, mousebrain." The pale brown tabby swatted his ear with her tail playfully. The glow in her eyes vanished as she looked back at the fresh-kill uneasily. "I…you know Thornstar, Dovewing, and Foxtail have been inside the leader's den for a really long time now?"

Her Clanmate shrugged as he ripped off the leg of the squirrel. "So what? They're probably talking about how good I was, or something of that nature."

"Oh, Lightpaw, get over yourself for once," hissed Rosepaw, swinging a sheathed forepaw at him. He ducked easily; the blow came weakly and sluggishly.

"_As_ I was saying," the she-cat snapped peevishly, though her gaze twinkled, "they're still inside. Still inside, Lightpaw; what if Foxt—our mentors said something bad about y—us?"

The reminder of his father's overprotective attitude angered Lightpaw, but he did his best to keep his neck fur from fluffing out. "It'll be fine," he meowed evenly, though a tension, brittle as the vibrantly-colored leaves littering the ground during leaf-fall, had instantly sprung to life at Rosepaw's words. He knew they were well-meant, but it took every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself from standing up and finding somewhere else to sit. _I am ready to become a ThunderClan warrior! I've been ready since half a moon ago! How could you think that?_ The unsaid words hung in the strained silence.

At last, Rosepaw stood up, dipping her head warily to Lightpaw, and padded off to join Nettlepaw and Specklepaw, the newest apprentices. The two cats looked eerily alike, with their spotted tabby pelts and glittering eyes the color of a dense shrub.

Just as he rose to his paws, about to shake the dust off his pelt and pad off to sulk, a tiny blob barreled into the soon-to-be warrior, knocking him off his paws again and onto the ground.

"Graykit," Lightpaw complained. "Go back into the nursery."

"Sorry, Lightpaw," the sleek kit meowed apologetically, shrill voice cracking with dismay. "I didn't see you there. Eaglekit pushed me outside," and his small eyes, so narrow they were practically green slits, flashed furiously at his sister, who stood snickering inside the nursery.

A sudden thought jolted through him: Graykit was his only brother. From a younger litter, of course, but Lightpaw had been the only kit in his litter to survive. The two others had been stillborn, or so he had been told by a sympathetic Rainfall. Drizzlekit and Eaglekit were both she-cats, though they obviously shared Graykit's (and Lightpaw's) mischievous streak. "Well, I'll let you off this time," he warned teasingly, "but don't let me catch you doing it again or I shall have to speak to Thornstar about suspending your apprentice ceremony for a few sunrises!"

"_No!_" A startled squeak of horror burst from the smaller cat's mouth as he turned tail and raced back inside. Laughter floated into Lightpaw's pricked ears: Honeyfur's.

"Hi, Lightpaw." The apprentice spun around, alarmed, as Rainfall's voice rang into his ears. "Oh, sorry; didn't mean to scare you," the glossy she-cat meowed politely.

Lightpaw nodded respectfully to her. "That's okay," he said. Just then, a pungent tang filled his nostrils, and he curled his lip in disgust. The medicine cat purred, amusement dancing gaily in her willow-leaf eyes. "Borage," she explained. "Makes a queen's milk come more easily."

"Ahh," the tom muttered.

He stood aside to let the medicine cat do her work, still standing outside the nursery. Now that Lightpaw was almost a warrior, what was he supposed to do? There was no cat left to brag to, he'd already completed his final hunt as an apprentice, and no enemy cats were raiding the ThunderClan camp.

"Lively, is'n he?"

Again, a surge of surprise fluttered through Lightpaw before he recognized the raspy mew of Thornstar, his leader. He dipped his head, muttering a courteous greeting, but the old cat's amber eyes were trained on Graykit. The gray tabby was running around in circles, snarling harshly at pretend adversaries and hurling himself at invisible prey. "Mur-row," the kit spat warningly. Lightpaw couldn't hold back a chuckle at that.

"He is," the younger tomcat agreed. "Drizzlekit and Eaglekit are also pretty energetic though."

For the first time, the ThunderClan leader seemed to notice Lightpaw standing beside him. "StarClan, Lightpaw, I didn't realize you were there…ah. Well, Foxtail and Dovewing spoke to me about your assessment with Rosepaw." Nervousness and anticipation tickled Lightpaw as Thornstar looked him over with sharp eyes until he thought he would explode from not knowing.

At last the old cat nodded briefly. "You'll be keeping vigil tonight."

"Th-thanks," Lightpaw stammered after a few heartbeats, not knowing what else to say. Thornstar merely nodded at him again before turning his attention back to Honeyfur and her kits.

"Are they six moons yet?" the elderly cat meowed.

The agile queen looked bewildered. "Er, they're three moons old."

"That's…nice." Wistfulness glazed Thornstar's eyes over for a few heartbeats. "We lost many warriors to greencough during leaf-bare," he murmured at last.

Petalflower looked up, her sage-colored eyes shimmering with emotion. Lightpaw stared from cat to cat, not entirely understanding what was going on but not caring enough to find out either. But the mood in the nursery had abruptly hardened, so he left.

As soon as he set paw out of the queens' den, irritation flooded back into his chest for some reason. Lightpaw slashed the air for no particular reason before storming out of camp, muttering darkly under his breath the whole time. The forest around him was alive, bubbling with life and animation, but he took no notice of the chirping larks, the scampering squirrels, or the prey darting noisily about in the underbrush. Lost in his own world, Lightpaw walked on, still grumbling crossly about—well, nothing consequential, really.

At last he stopped. The long-haired cat blinked, not quite sure where he was anymore. Shock brushed through his fur as he realized he was…_lost._ In his own territory, no less. How _embarrassing!_

"Lightpaw."

The senior apprentice blinked, glancing over his shoulder warily. "Who's there?"

His only response was silence.

Now he was unnerved. After several heartbeats, Lightpaw went back to scoping out his surroundings, eyes darting nervously about all the while. He saw a river trickling busily past him, fat fish swimming lazily under the clear blue surface. He saw large stones to his left, rays of sunlight splashing onto their gray surfaces. He saw trees to the right, smelled voles and mice all around him. This place, wherever it was, would clearly be a chunk of territory he'd want for his Clan; it was rich in prey, there was water to drink, and, as a plus, there were even sun-soaked rocks to lie on. But that brought Lightpaw back to the question…where _was_ he?

"Hello, Lightpaw."

The voice had returned, but this time it wasn't disembodied: A long-haired ginger-and-brown tom was sitting on the boulders, tail wound neatly around his paws. He fixed Lightpaw with sharp olive eyes.

"Who are you?" retorted Lightpaw, flattening himself against the ground. Obviously, this cat was obviously from StarClan, because he knew details like the names of living cats, details that only a dead cat would know. But Lightpaw felt uneasy about him all the same. It wasn't _normal_ to just know things like that, after all. He knew that he should trust a StarClan cat—after all, they were supposed to be wise—but still…

"My name is Dustflower."

Lightpaw couldn't hold back a snicker at that. Dust…_flower?_ Wasn't that a little…feminine for a tomcat? Lightpaw wasn't sure if he'd rather be just an apprentice or have such a feminine warrior name; he weighed both possibilities thoughtfully in his mind.

"Shut up!" snapped Dustflower rather rudely, glaring very irately at the sniggering apprentice. Lightpaw blinked; weren't dead cats supposed to be, well, nicer? And more composed? "Laughing at my name won't do you any good right now. Besides, at least I _have_ my warrior name. At least I'm a full-fledged _warrior._"

That shut Lightpaw up. The dead cat could read his mind!

Sticking his nose scornfully into the air, Dustflower continued speaking, still sounding rather huffy and annoyed. "As I was saying, my name is Dustflower. I'm from StarClan. And I've brought you…a message."

Interest piqued, Lightpaw leaned forward onto his front paws. "Yes?"

"Hmph. Well, we—that is to say, StarClan—have chosen you to be the one."

Lightpaw stared blankly. "The…one?"

"Yes, the one, you mousebrain!" snapped Dustflower. "You know; the one to save the Clans? The one to do great deeds? The one whose name will forever be remembered and told to little kits in stories?"

"What—really?" Lightpaw meowed eagerly, forgetting his amusement at Dustflower's name and wariness. "That sounds interesting. How do I become 'the one,' then?"

"Well," muttered Dustflower, piercing stare cutting into Lightpaw's fur, "you see, Lightpaw, you're part of a prophecy. We—StarClan, I mean—shared this prophecy with each and every Clan—WindClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and, of course, ThunderClan—a few sunrises ago. So to become the one, you'll have to fulfill the prophecy. Would you like to hear it?" When the light-pelted apprentice bobbed his head up and down frantically, the StarClanner closed his eyes before reciting, "_A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one._"

"Um," Lightpaw mumbled before he could stop himself, and feeling embarrassed when he realized what he'd said.

"Yes?" Dustflower looked mildly interested now. "Speak your mind, Lightpaw. I won't ridicule you for that."

Hesitating, Lightpaw stared nervously at the dead tomcat for a few heartbeats before blurting out, "What does that mean? It's a bit confusing, isn't it?"

Dustflower's lime-colored eyes widened, and Lightpaw flinched back, afraid that the StarClan member was going to start shouting at him, or perhaps attack him (though he couldn't imagine what kind of damage dead claws could do). But to his shock, Dustflower let out a raspy, guttural laugh. "Of course it is. Prophecies are always confusing. You never get them until the last heartbeat, and by then it's usually too late." The tom's eyes glinted with wisdom.

Lightpaw stared at Dustflower for a few heartbeats before realizing that his elder was serious. "If that's the case, how am I supposed to fulfill it and become the one?"

"Ah, yes." Dustflower's meow grew grimmer and more serious here, and his eyes sharpened. "Well, Lightpaw, you are to save the Clans. But you won't be alone. Five other cats will join you in this battle; two cats from two of the other Clans, and one from the remaining other Clan. All of you must join together to stop destruction and bloodshed from happening."

Utterly bewildered now, Lightpaw tipped his head to the side. "I thought prophecies were to be confusing?"

"Yes. Yes, they are."

"Er, then why are you telling me this straight out?" mewed Lightpaw, staring at Dustflower as though the latter were insane. Which he may or may not have been.

Another chuckle burst hoarsely from the StarClanner's throat. "Well, don't be offended," he purred, "but you've a habit of being…mousebrained." Lightpaw bristled, hissing angrily at Dustflower, but the ginger tabby flicked his ears at him. "Let me continue! Anyway, you're the cat out of all six who needs the most…help understanding the prophecy. So StarClan decided to let me tell you; I'm blunt and to-the-point. Even someone with bees in their brain like you would understand what I say." The golden-brown tomcat glared at Dustflower, insulted.

"So who're the other cats?" he muttered at last, forcing his fur to lie down.

"Good question. You'll find out when the moon is full." Dustflower began to fade away now, which rather startled Lightpaw. Irrelevant questions popped into mind, such as "How can a cat just grow transparent like that?" and "Do all StarClan cats obtain that ability when they died?" It was only when thoughts of being remembered forever crept into his mind that he recalled the matter at hand, which was still rather difficult for the young tom to understand.

"Wait!" the golden-brown cat yowled. "You didn't explain everything clearly to me yet…"

Now all that could be seen of Dustflower was the tomcat's pale green eyes. They rolled dramatically, and Dustflower began to speak (though how he could do that without a mouth was beyond Lightpaw's understanding). "Great StarClan," he scoffed. "You really _are_ more mousebrained than I thought!" And with those parting words, he disappeared.

Lightpaw was alone now, and he used this time to think things over. He sat down, curling his tail around his paws. "When the moon is full…" the tawny-furred apprentice murmured to himself. "Full moon, eh? I guess that means…a Gathering. And the next Gathering is…tomorrow night!"

* * *

**Lightpaw was originally supposed to be a golden cat, until I discovered that cats can't be golden or yellow. That set me back quite a bit. So I changed it to golden-brown. Just imagine him kind of sand-colored, like Thornstar. :P**

**I tried to leave it on a cliffie (though I probably failed -_-)! You'll discover the ShadowClan cats by tomorrow or Tuesday night. Oh yeah - Lightpaw's dreaming, in case you didn't know. He went into the forest and just slipped into Dreamworld. That's how Dustflower came to him. He woke up after this chapter ends and goes back to the ThunderClan camp to become a warrior with Rosepaw/Rosepool. His name becomes Lightstep! :D You might have already guessed that from the allegiances, though. :3  
**

**As usual, review please! I got many hits and not too many reviews so...yeah. Thanks everyone! :]  
**


	6. Chapter Four

**Holy shnizzle - Fawntail actually kept her promise to upload a chapter every Friday/Saturday/Sunday? :O OhhEmmGee! Alert the media!**

**xD Anyway, as promised, here is Chapter Four, in the perspective of one of the two chosen ShadowClan cats! Again, I was a bit lazy to write in the both cats' POV, and the two chosen ones aren't really related, so...yeah. Sorry. **

**Ah, and sorry about not putting up a sneak peek on m' profile. Got a bit lazy, you see. :P As usual.**

**Thanks to _Twix Carmel_ for being my _only_ reviewer for the previous chapter. -hinthint- By the way, be sure you scroll down all the way for this chapter. I've put in a little A/N at the end that I need you guys to read. Thanks! :]]  
**

* * *

"What do you think will happen at the Gathering when we arrive?"

_If I hear you say that one more time_, thought Nightfang furiously, _you won't be able to _arrive_ at the Gathering at all!_ He wanted to claw Redpaw's ears off for asking the same question over and over since Clawstar's proclamation as to who he would take to the Gathering. Instead he contented himself with growling, "The Clans will talk; _that's_ what. Now shut up and just keep walking to the island!"

Redpaw flinched and stared down at her paws guiltily.

Nightfang's sister Shrewtail let out a sharp warning hiss, smacking her brother with her tail—unnecessarily strongly, the night-black tomcat thought to himself, rather disgruntled, though of course he'd never admit it to her face. "Don't worry, Redpaw. Nightfang's just got a hairball stuck in his throat; that's all. He'll be fine after the Gathering. Why don't you go ahead and catch up with Gingerpaw?" Obviously soothed, the dark ginger she-cat nodded, mewing a quick thanks before darting ahead to walk with her sister, whose pelt was of an equal coloring. Shrewtail watched her go before rounding on Nightfang. "What was that for?"

"You know perfectly well what it was for," growled the dark-furred cat, though he took a step away from her uneasily. "She just wouldn't _shut up_. All that talk about the _Gathering_, and what'll _happen_—admit it, you were getting sick of it too!"

A menacing growl rumbled out of his sister's throat. "There was still no need to lash out at her," she spat, glaring at him. "You've been lashing out at every cat for the past day. What's wrong with you, anyway?" Without bothering to listen to him, Shrewtail padded forward, jostling roughly past him, tail held stiffly in the air.

Nightfang grumbled under his breath. StarClan, she-cats were so difficult to figure out; even his own _sister_, the cat he'd suckled next to for over a moon, could be baffling at times.

Thinking of StarClan and his sister's irritated query as to what was troubling him reminded Nightfang of his dream again. With a sigh, he listened to the prophecy resonating in his mind as it had for the previous sunrise and a half: _A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one._ And then the dream unfolded in his mind, as it had several times today…

"_Where am I?" Nightfang blinked as he opened his eyes to find himself in rather strange surroundings._

"_Greetings, Nightfang."_

_The sable tom swung around to see a pure white tom sitting placidly by a small pond. Fat, golden fish swam lazily about in the waters, hardly seeming bothered by the two cats standing close by. Some strange trees grew around the pond; they had slender trunks with very dark bark and were blooming with odd pink blossoms that were rather lovely. Birds chirped cheerfully, and there was a rustle in the bushes growing by the trees that signified the presence of prey. It was, all in all, a picturesque place_…_but that brought Nightfang back to his first question: where _was _he?_

"_Who are you?" the ShadowClan warrior demanded, taking a wary step back._

"_You don't recognize me?" The other tomcat's eyes, dark as the pine needles that lined the ShadowClan camp, glittered. "Look closely, Nightfang. Who am I?"_

_The dark tom stared. The stranger had snow-white fur, sparkling with frost and what seemed to be_…stars? _His eyes were a dark emerald hue, and he had rather large ears. He was muscular but also rather small_…_Then it hit him. "Pinefrost!"_

"_I knew you'd get there in the end," chuckled his grandfather. "Yes, Nightfang—I am a member of StarClan. I have been for a few moons now, I think. And this is my first assignment as a StarClan cat." Nightfang sensed the pride in Pinefrost's mew; clearly this assignment was rather important, not just some casual visit. "Anyway—Nightfang, you've heard a few prophecies from the past. You know what they are, you know what they sound like, and you know what to do if a prophecy occurs." The ebony-colored tom just nodded uncertainly, wary of where this seemed to be going. "Well, congratulations: You have been chosen by StarClan to save the Clans from disaster! Really, congratulations; be proud. It's a great honor, to be one of StarClan's chosen few."_

_Nightfang just stared blankly. Not quite believing his ears._

"_Nightfang? Are you all right?"_

_Another uncomprehending stare._

_Pinefrost's nose wrinkled. "Look, if you're _worried…_"_

"_Of course I'm worried!" Nightfang snapped, forgetting that this was a _StarClan _member—and his grandfather—and therefore should be respected. "You_…_you_…_you StarClanners have prophesized me to be a cat who's expected to save all the Clans from some disaster. What sane cat _wouldn't_ be worried? I mean, I'm probably not going to get out of this unscathed or even alive!"_

_His grandfather's eyes softened, and his fur suddenly stopped shimmering quite so much. "Nightfang, we didn't just pick you randomly. You know that. You were chosen because you have the skills needed to save the Clans. And besides," he continued loudly, ignoring his grandson as the raven-furred warrior attempted to interrupt, "you won't be alone. You'll have the support of five other cats…"_

_At the last sentence, Nightfang gaped. "Five—other cats?"_

"_Yes. You will meet them at the Gathering." Pinefrost nodded, gaze sharpening. "But that's not all I need to say. Nightfang," he meowed, voice suddenly soft and yet more ominous at the same time, while frost returned to his pelt, "you must ascend the mountains. You must become one and overcome the challenges to reach the summit."_

_Nightfang just stared stupidly, until at last, he had recovered enough to blink and say numbly, "I_…_must climb a mountain?"_

_Pinefrost nodded, face carefully neutral. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"_

_The tom blinked again, doing his best to come up with a question that _didn't_ make him sound like a complete, utter mousebrain. At last, he meowed, "What's the prophecy again?"_

"_Oh! Right, the prophecy," Pinefrost exclaimed, looking dismayed. "I nearly forgot. I mustn't do that again, or they might not send me on important missions_…_right. The prophecy is as follows…" He closed his eyes, and when he spoke again, his voice was gravelly and rather harsh: "_A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one…_"_

The dream had ended after Pinefrost had voiced the prophecy. Nightfang shook himself hastily as he realized ShadowClan had arrived at the log that led to the island each Clan gathered. He hastily scrambled on, crawling carefully over the trunk, while still somewhat immersed in thoughts about the prophecy. He managed to cross over to the other side without falling into the icy lake water and immediately placed all four paws on the ground in relief—he was not a RiverClan cat and would never truly be comfortable around water. As he gazed around at the other cats, he remembered one of Pinefrost's sentences: _You will meet them at the Gathering_. He would meet the other five cats tonight—right here, right now.

"Remember," Clawstar, the leader of ShadowClan, mewed quietly, his amber eyes glittering solemnly, "don't let out any information regarding ShadowClan. The other Clans will be using this Gathering to scope out as many details as they can on ShadowClan, like how we fight or where our camp is. Be careful and vigilant, and try to get information out of _them_ if you can." With that said, the large, muscular dark-brown tomcat padded off, heading for the branches of the Great Oak, where all the leaders gathered.

The dark-furred warrior smiled, slinking off into the night to find—well, to try and find the other five chosen cats. He was grateful that his pelt blended into the night, seeing as the moonlight wasn't particularly strong at the moment; only his tawny-yellow eyes showed, gleaming slightly as he made his way through the clusters of cats. Shrewtail was standing with her friends from rivaling Clans; he recognized Swiftbrook from RiverClan, Falconwing from WindClan, and Leafstorm from ThunderClan. Shrewtail shot her brother a look from narrowed eyes but didn't say anything as he crept past them.

Several minutes later, however, Nightfang was beginning to feel less confident about finding the other cats. It had been a while now, and he hadn't seen any cat that looked…

The black warrior's eyes widened in shock, and he muffled a sigh as he realized Pinefrost hadn't even given him a clue as to what the other cats _looked_ like. He halted, shoulders sagging, and padded off slowly, deciding to admit defeat and call it a night.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The ShadowClan warrior blinked in astonishment as he bumped into another cat—ThunderClan, from the smell of it. The ThunderClanner hissed impatiently, springing to his paws as he stared indignantly at…wherever the other cat was. "Be careful, won't you?" he snapped, at last giving up on pinpointing the other cat's location.

"You should learn to be less of a hypocrite," Nightfang sneered, though inside he admitted that it had probably been mostly his fault. _Probably._ "Clumsy ThunderClan cat!"

The ThunderClan cat let out a snarl. A muffled noise coming from the ground told Nightfang that this ThunderClanner had unsheathed his claws, sinking them into the soft soil. "Shut up," he snapped. "You want to make something of me being a ThunderClan cat?"

"Bring it on, apprentice," jeered Nightfang, frustration pulsing through his body fiercely. He knew it wasn't frustration at this tomcat's klutziness, however—no, it was aimed at StarClan for not even bothering to _tell _him what the other chosen cats would look like! "Let's see what you can do."

"I'm—not—an—apprentice!" Nightfang's words seemed to have touched a nerve, as the other cat launched himself at Nightfang furiously, clawing at his muzzle. The latter caught a glimpse of long golden-brown fur and furious, ice-blue eyes as his attacker landed on him.

The ShadowClan cat rolled to the ground, kicking the ThunderClan cat off easily with powerful hind legs. The ThunderClan tom fell against the ground with a heavy thump, already gasping for breath.

"Stop!"

The unexpected yowl caused both cats to look up. A she-cat was standing a few mouse-lengths away from them; Nightfang couldn't quite make out her face in the darkness, but she reeked of annoyance.

"What in the name of StarClan are you _doing?_" she snapped. Without bothering to give them time to answer, she stormed over to the ThunderClan cat. "Lightstep, you mousebrain—we might get a message from StarClan tonight telling us more about what we're to do, not to mention we're at a _Gathering!_" Embarrassment weaved itself through Nightfang's fur; he'd forgotten about the rules about peace at a Gathering. "And yet you're fighting with this…this other cat! Which brings me to you!" The she-cat spun around to face Nightfang. "Who _are_ you? Actually, no; I don't _care_ who you are. Just go awa—"

"Hang on," meowed Nightfang, staring at the she-cat, or rather, where he could feel the heat of her body. "Did you just say you're going to get a message from StarClan tonight?" Excitement pounded through him, and he forgot all about his irritation with StarClan. "Does it concern the prophecy about a heart turned to ice and blood splattering strength and courage?"

The she-cat—RiverClan, apparently—immediately took on a new smell, one that indicated surprise. "You—are you the sixth cat?"

"I'm one of the chosen ones," Nightfang muttered. "You?"

"Come with me," she ordered, ignoring his question. "And you, too," she hissed, jerking her head towards Lightstep.

Nightfang followed her, tracking her by the sound of grass being flattened beneath paws and her fishy RiverClan scent. The ThunderClan warrior was close behind them as well, from the disgusting reek of trees and shrubbery that was coming from behind them.

At last the three cats burst into a clearing, a strange place Nightfang had never encountered in all his touring of the island. Bushes and shrubs bordered the edge of the island, the waters of the lake lapping at it gently. The grass was short but springy, a shade of soft green. A gentle breeze swirled around them; Nightfang paused to let it cool his fur.

"Come on," hissed the RiverClan she-cat impatiently, padding forward. Lightstep followed her, and, after a heartbeat of hesitation, Nightfang did as well.

As they stepped forward, Nightfang's yellow eyes could just barely make out the silhouettes of three other cats. These cats rose to their paws and stepped forward to meet the others. To his surprise, Nightfang recognized one of the other chosen cats.

"Flamepool?" he hissed, his Clanmate exclaiming, "Nightfang? You…StarClan chose you as well?" at the same time.

Blinking, Nightfang dipped his head in affirmation. _I didn't know one of my Clanmates would accompany me in this task of saving the Clans—and plus, it's _Flamepool._ If any cat can lead me through this, Flamepool can_…Reassured, he turned his head to listen to the RiverClan she-cat as she spoke once more.

"Now that we're here, let's introduce ourselves." The moonlight was strangely bright here; it softly touched the first she-cat's fur, revealing a blue-silver pelt, cool cerulean eyes, and a lithe build. "I'll go first. I'm Icecloud, and I come from RiverClan."

"I'm Silvermist. I'm Icecloud's sister—I come from RiverClan as well." A silver-gray she-cat blinked eyes the same color as Pinefrost's as the moonlight shone down upon her.

"Snowflower," murmured another cat. Nightfang glanced at her. She had a sleek, well-groomed white pelt dappled with dark cream patches that reminded him of a daisy and a graceful, slender figure. Her eyes were the color of a leaf during greenleaf. "I'm a warrior of WindClan."

"My name is Flamepool," the ginger tomcat said, glancing sideways at Nightfang with gleaming, fern-green eyes. "I'm a ShadowClan cat."

"Lightstep, at your service!" The small, golden-brown tom bounced up and down, pale blue eyes glittering with enthusiasm. "I hail from ThunderClan. I'm a _warrior_." The last word seemed to be aimed at Nightfang, who merely sneered at the glaring ThunderClan cat. Unlike that furball, he actually had a brain he used—on a regular basis.

Nightfang blinked as he realized the other cats were staring expectantly at him—it was his turn to introduce himself. "Nightfang," he grunted shortly. "ShadowClan."

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Icecloud said after a few heartbeats of silence, "we should describe our dreams and what StarClan said to us."

"Wait," Lightstep interrupted, eyes glinting with unease, "we're missing the entire Gathering this way…Shouldn't we be back with the Clans listening to our leaders talk?" Nightfang was mildly surprised as he realized Lightstep might actually be saying something sensible.

Silvermist nodded, looking worried. Even Icecloud hesitated before mumbling, "Well…I'm sure this is important. When else are we going to get the chance to discuss this? Let's just get this over with so we can return to our Clans." The others murmured their agreement, though Silvermist and Lightstep still seemed unsure about the decision.

"I'll go first." The words came from Snowflower, her bright green eyes shimmering. Flamepool turned his own green gaze upon her, as the willowy she-cat continued, "Well, a cat came to me in my sleep, and, well, she said something about…about blood." The delicate she-cat shuddered slightly.

"Blood," echoed Silvermist thoughtfully. "You don't think they mean—battles, perhaps? Or BloodClan?"

"BloodClan scattered seasons ago," Icecloud said dismissively. "My dream—my father came to me." The blue-gray cat's eyes suddenly clouded over as she continued in a huskier voice, "He talked about a battle like no other." When she closed her eyes and leaned on her paws, it was clear that Icecloud had nothing more to say.

Silvermist looked uncertainly at the other cats before beginning, "Well, I met Berrystar, who was the leader of RiverClan before…before I was born." Icecloud stared at the silver warrior sharply. "He told me that the Clans were, as of now, experiencing a time of peace and good hunting…but all good things come to an end. Danger is coming to the lake; it'll arrive very soon, and we must stop it together."

The gloomy mood was broken by Lightstep, who of course didn't realize the melancholy Silvermist's retelling of her dream had cast over the six cats. "A cat named Dustflower talked to me! He—"

"Wait a minute, _he?_"

"Yeah." The tawny warrior shrugged, amusement glimmering in his eyes. "He nearly clawed my ears off when I asked him about that. Anyway, he told me straight-out that I was to save the Clans with five other cats. We have to join together to prevent devastation and blood from being spilled, apparently."

Nightfang gaped at the ThunderClan cat, trying to register the flippant way he'd spoken about demolition and bloodshed into his mind. "Do you _know_ what that means?" he snapped at last.

Lightstep rolled his eyes. "Duh! Devastation means destruction, and blood from being spilled is bloodshed…"

"Yep, he doesn't know," Icecloud said dryly to nobody in particular.

"Hey!"

"_Anyway,_" the gray she-cat meowed loudly, "Nightfang, why don't you go ahead."

Hesitantly, Nightfang shuffled his paws and stared down at the ground, mumbling, "My grandfather Pinefrost visited me. He talked about climbing the mountains…ascending them, or something. Also, he said we all have to join together to reach the summit or something…"

"Flamepool, go ahead," prompted Snowflower when another silence fell over the cats.

The orange tom shot her a probing look before meowing in a deep voice, "Cedarspots paid me a visit. He talked about joining together…and he said one word. Something very odd."

"Which was?" Nightfang meowed, staring intently at his Clanmate.

"Revenge."

Another eerie hush swished into place, and the six cats were left staring at each other blankly. _Whatever this means, StarClan,_ Nightfang thought grimly, _it's not very pleasant, is it?_

"Maybe we put the pieces together," Snowflower suggested at last in a soft mew. "We all got different pieces of information—I was told about blood, Icecloud learned about a battle like no other, Silvermist found out that danger will arrive soon, Lightstep said we have to join together, Flamepool learned of revenge, and Nightfang was told about the mountains…" The glossy-furred warrior glanced down at her paws.

"That's not a bad idea," Nightfang agreed. Snowflower had a point; they had all been given different bits of information by StarClan. Perhaps they were to fit them together and figure out what StarClan meant.

Icecloud pushed herself to her paws with a sigh. "Well, that may be so, but the Clan leaders just called the meeting to a close." Nightfang started; he hadn't heard their leaders end the Gathering. "Let's all keep thinking about it, and we can discuss it at the next Gathering."

"Wait," Silvermist meowed quickly. "Do you think we should tell our leaders about this?"

Every cat stared at each other until at last, Lightstep meowed, "Were they even told of this? I mean, I guess we could tell them that it's of dire importance—but remember the Great Journey? Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Stormfur, Feathertail, Tawnypelt, and Crowfeather—they all went on it without telling their leaders. Then again, it was because their leaders hadn't been told…"

"Let's keep it to ourselves for now," Icecloud mewed decisively, nodding. "If our leaders give any indication that they know as well, then we can share this with them. But for now…"

She waved her plumy tail in dismissal and sprung to her paws before padding off. Silvermist murmured a quick goodbye, dashing after her sister. Lightstep glanced after them and pushed through the hedges to return to his Clan; Nightfang could hear him blundering through them noisily, scaring off all the prey that lived on the island. Snowflower looked back at them once, gaze lingering on Flamepool, before turning and heading off, her pale coat glistening in the moonshine. At last it was just the two ShadowClan warriors left, staring at each other anxiously.

"We'd better go," Nightfang muttered, "or Clawstar will have our tails off." Flamepool nodded, and the two warriors darted off back to meet their Clan.

Clawstar had just leapt down from the Great Oak. "Enjoy the Gathering?" he mewed to Flamepool and Nightfang. A grunt sufficed to keep suspicion from being aroused, and the massive ShadowClan leader began trotting off.

"Was the Gathering what you expected it to be?" Nightfang asked Redpaw, falling into step with her so as not to attract suspicion from his Clanmates.

The small ginger she-cat nodded, dark green eyes gleaming with excitement. "It was great!" she burst out. "I met new cats, and I heard the other Clans' gossip, and…and I want to come to another Gathering! It was _really_ fun, this one!"

But Nightfang wasn't paying much attention. He was still mulling over the scraps of information the other five cats had been told and trying to pull them together with his. A great danger would arrive at the lake soon, the Clans would be thrown into a battle like no other, this had something to do with blood and revenge, the six chosen cats had to join together, and they would have to climb the mountains. He still didn't get it.

As the black warrior glanced at Flamepool, who was padding alongside Leopardspots, a broad-shouldered golden-brown tomcat with darker spots mottling his coat, he was pretty sure from the bright orange warrior's troubled green gaze that he hadn't figured anything out yet either. _Oh well,_ Nightfang reasoned, _all will be made clear eventually._

But as he gazed into the night, Redpaw still chattering animatedly in his ears, Nightfang couldn't help but think—_this is just the beginning of what is yet to come. And what is yet to come_…_is not good._

* * *

**Whew, finished. -wipes sweat off brow-**

**Does Nightfang sound a tad stupid to you (due to the fact he didn't understand what the dreams meant)? Not as silly as Lightstep is, for sure! Yeah, that's one of Lightstep's character flaws: rushing into things without thinking it over carefully. That, and stupidity, though those two are _almost_ the same thing.**

**Chapter Four is on the way!**

**Oh, and - hey, guys, I really appreciate you reading this story and all, but could you review next time? I got 13 hits for Chapter Three and only one review. Which really made me feel a bit disappointed. I don't mean to go "OMFG REVEIW NAO!!111eleventy-one!!1" on y'all, but...one review for thirteen hits? Really? Remember, reading this story and not leaving a review tells the author that you just clicked the little "X" button at the upper right hand corner of your browser! Liked this story, hated it - I don't care! Just tell me next time, please!**

**Yeah. Sorry about that little rant. This Author's Note is turning out to be longer than I'd like. Soo, anyway, check out my profile for sneak peeks of Chapter Five! _Yes,_ I will put up a Chp. Preview, so clicky that little button up there that says "Fawntail" in dark blue! Or purple! As usual, R&R (especially the "Review" part)!  
**


	7. Chapter Five

**O.M.G.**

**Fawntail posted a chapter... _four days after her latest update._**

**...**

**x_x -faint-**

**Hahah. xD Yeah, I know I said I usually update on Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays, but I've been writing a lot lately! And reading fanfics (somewhat), and, uh, chatting, and...okay. Yeah. You get the point. :P**

**Anyway, I think this chapter is really short. :[ Not my usual length. It's only around 2k words - I'm supposed to be writing 3k! Gah, what is wrong with me? Ah, well. Not much action in this one, but you get to see more about Snowflower. Hinted at something in her past here - it should be fairly easy to detect. ^^ Well, that I hinted at something, at least.**

**Well, enough with my rambling. Enjoy~  
**

* * *

Seven sunrises had passed since Snowflower had met with the other chosen cats, and she still didn't understand they were intended to do. The WindClan she-cat had finally wandered out of camp to listen to the songs floating on the breeze that swept through the moorlands. Sighing, she pushed her face into her paws, tail twitching from side to side.

_It's not fair,_ she wailed inwardly. _We don't know what to do. We're just_…_warriors. How could we expect to know what to do? None of us are medicine cats, and none of us are leaders_…_we don't have special connections with StarClan._ At the last word, she instinctively looked up at the dark blue sky and the band of stars stretching out over it.

But the white-and-cream she-cat didn't experience the warm feeling of comfort most cats felt when looking up at the sky. Instead, she felt…_cold_, so very cold…The stars were glittering coldly down on her, until Snowflower wanted to yowl, _Why? Why me? Why_…_why did you let them—_

"Snowflower?"

The pale-furred warrior blinked, leaping to her paws and bristling instinctively at the new voice. It belonged to Stoneclaw, a shaggy tabby tom with a rather flattened face that appeared to have been trodden on by a horse's massive foot. The dark gray warrior stared at her with owl-like ocher eyes that bulged slightly.

"Hello, Stoneclaw," Snowflower meowed cautiously, dipping her head to him. "What brings you out here?"

"I could say the same to you." Stoneclaw had a very unusual voice that could be recognized at once; it rasped and grated, like claws scraping over gravel, but it was deep and slow at the same time. His face was also rather odd—according to Blackbird, his mother had dropped him in the mud as a kit several times, on purpose. Snowflower hadn't been exceptionally surprised when the plump elder told her that Stoneclaw's mother, a she-cat by the name of Rushfoot, had been rather insane and died a few moons after her kitting.

"I…I was about to go back in, actually," Snowflower mumbled uncomfortably. Stoneclaw's shrewd yellow eyes were making her squirm on the spot, as though he knew every one of her secrets…

"I see." The dark-coated tom gazed at her some more, until Snowflower at last blurted out, "Y'know what? You can stay out here. I'll go by myself—see you later…"

She hurried off without waiting for his answer. Unconsciously, the light-furred she-cat picked up speed, running with her tail streaming behind her now until she made it back to the WindClan camp.

"Wha' took you so long to get back?" murmured Falconwing in a voice slurred with sleep as Snowflower dropped down beside her.

"I went out for a while," Snowflower replied. She shivered, huddling closer to Falconwing as a breeze ruffled her fur, chilling her to the bone. She had never particularly understood _why,_ exactly, WindClan cats preferred sleeping outside instead of in a nice, warm den…

The white-and-dark-cream she-cat felt a paw prodding her in the side what seemed like a few heartbeats later. "Wake up, Snowflower," a voice from up above hissed.

"St-StarClan?" The pale warrior's leaf-colored eyes jolted open, and she stumbled to her feet. "Are you from…from Star-StarClan…" Her question trailed off as she let out a yawn. "Why is it so early?" complained the WindClan she-cat ill-temperedly.

"No…it's Stripedpaw." Snowflower muttered a disoriented _oh_ before shaking herself and opening her eyes wide. A confused pale gray tabby she-cat stood before her, staring at her like she had gone mad.

"S-sorry, Stripedpaw," the warrior mumbled. She stifled a yawn. "I'm just tired, is all. Why's it so early?"

The striped apprentice nodded vigorously, water-colored eyes shining in shock. "I know!" she exclaimed. "I thought it was really early too…and I was surprised, of course, when Au…burnpaw w-woke me up…" Though she was still half-asleep, Snowflower didn't miss the stumble her friend had made when pronouncing Auburnpaw's name or the suddenly-soft tone Stripedpaw had switched to.

"You're crushing on _him?_" she exclaimed, horrified; Snowflower had never thought Stripedpaw would go for a cat like Auburnpaw. The bark-colored tom's amber eyes had always flashed in disdain whenever any cat made a mistake. He definitely hadn't been Snowflower's favorite cat back in their apprentice days.

Stripedpaw shuffled her paws nervously. "I…well," she stammered. At last she stared at Snowflower, eyes wide and honest, and mewed, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I kind of…well, I used to think he was a total mousebrain, always stuck-up and arrogant. But…" Her tail twitched erratically here, and she declared at last, "I met him staring off into the sunset, you see. And he looked so sad, and when he saw me…well, the way his eyes lit up—it just made me feel really…special. Really _wanted_, you know? And now that I look back on it, he's never been mean to me, really. In fact, he's been positively nice…Do you get what I'm saying?"

Snowflower stared long and hard at her friend, tilting her head to the side. No, she didn't get what Stripedpaw was saying: the dappled warrior had never been in love. And she knew she would never fall in love with a piece of mouse dung like _Auburnpaw._ But at the same time she didn't want to ruin her friend's dreamy bliss, so she meowed as politely as she could (which, considering her shock and disgust, probably wasn't very polite at all), "I just never would have thought that you would like him. I mean, you always complained about what an annoying furball he was and all."

"That's true," Stripedpaw mewed, ears flicking back and forth. "But he was really kind and gentle to me afterwards—it was like he shed his egotistical side! He's been really nice, and I always catch him staring at me warmly. I mean, I can't help but kind of, you know…fall for him, too."

She scuffled her feet again, looking embarrassed but proud at the same time. Snowflower still didn't understand why her friend had chosen Auburnpaw, even if the tomcat _did_ seem delighted every time he saw her: he was a jerk. He'd teased Snowflower, making her the brunt of several cruel jokes during her apprenticeship. And Snowflower was not a cat that forgot easily.

"That's…good for you…I suppose," she muttered at last, aware that Stripedpaw was looking almost fearfully at her, clearly worried that Snowflower was going to make a disparaging remark about Auburnpaw. "Your choice, though _I_ never would have picked him in a million seasons."

Stripedpaw merely shrugged, looking rather uncomfortable. "Yeah," she mumbled. "About that…"

"Stripedpaw!" The two cats turned to see Auburnpaw racing across the hollow. Snowflower watched him frostily as the apprentice touched noses affectionately with Stripedpaw. "How are you today?"

"Fine," the gray tabby muttered, not meeting his or Snowflower's eyes. Auburnpaw looked rather hurt, but he stepped forward to lick her ear tenderly.

Snowflower's eyes hardened. "If you'll excuse me," she cut in icily, "I'm going hunting. I don't think I could stomach any more of this sickening 'love'-fest." Without waiting for a response, the light warrior padded off, nose high in the air.

_I can't believe Stripedpaw is going for that mousebrain,_ she thought furiously. _She knows what kind of fox dung he put me through_…_I thought she was smarter than that. Fool._ Snorting contemptuously to herself, she stormed off to—well, she didn't exactly know where she was going. She just needed to get away from the nauseating couple.

"What's gotten you so worked up?" Harewhisker, one of the senior warriors, mewed cheerfully as she passed by him. Then he caught sight of Snowflower's expression, and his golden-brown eyes darkened. "What's wrong, Snowflower?"

Harewhisker was one of her friends, but Snowflower didn't feel inclined to spill what was on her mind to him at the moment. The good-tempered tom would probably meow something jocular back and tell her that she was making a big deal over nothing; he wouldn't understand. _Plus,_ he was Auburnpaw's mentor—he'd take his precious apprentice's side for sure! So she forced her voice to come out calmly: "I'm going to go hunting by myself. I'll be back later." The dark, mud-colored tom hesitated before dipping his head, worry still evident in his eyes. Snowflower didn't need any more prompting. She scurried off out of the camp quickly, really pushing off with her hind legs when she reached the wild moors.

It felt _good_ to run, as though she were running away from all her problems. She hadn't run like this in a long time, and she relished the pleasant feeling surging through her as she really _used_ her legs for the first time in a while. The wind whipped fiercely against her face, and she purred.

At last she stopped. Looking around, Snowflower realized that she had no idea where she was, even. But it didn't matter. She closed her eyes and tumbled onto the short, tough moorland grass, flanks heaving continuously as she lay, sprawled comfortably out, on the stubbly grass. The wind had subsided to a gentler breeze that cooled her fur. _I really need to do that more often._

Another purr rippled through the pale she-cat's lithe body. She wasn't tired in the slightest—her body was built and suited for running long distances, with or against the wind. She was, after all, a WindClan cat through and through. She would never be able to stalk like a ThunderClan warrior, swim like a RiverClan cat, nor eat slimy toads like a ShadowClanner.

"I'm WindClan, through and through," the spotted she-cat crooned to herself in a rather shrill mew, green eyes flashing oddly. "I'm WindClan, through and through. I'm WindClan, through and…"

Her murmured chant was cut off when she heard a rather loud thump echoing through the hills. "What the—?"

Scrambling to her paws, Snowflower twitched an ear irritably. "What in StarClan is that _noise?_" Without bothering to think up an answer to her own question, the elegant she-cat dashed off, relishing the excuse to use her feet to their full capacity once more. The wind flapped wildly against her once more, trying to slow her down—but nothing could get in Snowflower's way when she was running. _This is where I belong_…_running against the wind._

She slid gracefully to a stop when the noise grew louder, panting only slightly and staring through narrowed green eyes at the hills that arched up, forming a massive mound of grass similar to the mountains. Snowflower's mouth twisted wryly as her mind flashed back to Nightfang's declaration of his dream—"_He talked about climbing the mountains_…_ascending them…_"

Nothing appeared. Snowflower's muscles, bunched tautly together as she crouched beneath a small hill, were starting to ache after several tense minutes of nothing. But she didn't dare let herself relax, not after…

_This is getting ridiculous,_ she thought after another moment of waiting for nothing. _Nothing's there; I'm getting my tail in a twist for no reason at all. I'm not a ThunderClan cat or a ShadowClan warrior. I'm not suited to stalking and waiting. I'd better just go back to camp now—_

The words had been no sooner thought when a light brown lump appeared over the hills. No—not a lump. A…a cat's head. It was followed by a body, well-muscled and rather large. A fawn-colored tabby tomcat was padding over the hills quite rapidly. But he was not alone. Other cats were appearing, trotting after the first cat rather swiftly—and there were a lot of them. Enough, in fact, to match the number of cats in a _Clan!_

Snowflower's eyes widened, and she contemplated racing back to camp to warn her Clanmates of the approaching cats. But it was too late; the strangers were too close to her hiding position to evade now. There was nothing to do but reveal herself. So she slowly stepped forward, picking her way up the hill carefully. The other cats halted when they caught sight of her. Silence fell heavily upon the two groups; well, Snowflower wasn't exactly equal to a _group_, but she would have to suffice for now.

At last, the first cat strode forward, enough for Snowflower to see that his eyes were a pale golden color. "Who are you?" he demanded in a mew laced with a rich, exotic accent Snowflower had never heard before.

"My name is Snowflower," the WindClan warrior retorted coolly. "You are traveling in WindClan territory. Who are you, and why are you here?"

The tabby tom looked over his shoulders, exchanging a glance with his Clan. "My name is Stoneteller," he rasped at last. "This is my Tribe, the Tribe of Rushing Water. We have come to warn the…the Clans of an impending threat to us all."

"And what would that be?" Snowflower didn't even bother to hide her suspicion of Stoneteller's claims. It was plain as day to her that the tom was talking fox dung, trying to trick her into letting him and his Tribe pass, whatever a Tribe was. But she changed her mind when Stoneteller uttered one word:

"BloodClan."

* * *

**-gasp- Such a dramatic ending. The word that this story is based around. Lyk, omg!!onewun!!11**

**Hah. I don't really like this chapter, mainly because it's _so asdflkj_ short! D: And the content is a little...meh. But the events were required - otherwise le chosen ones would be wandering around wondering when they'll learn of the so-called threat. -sigh-**

**I forgot to put the reviewers' names up in the first A/N, so I'll put them here: _Emberheart0_, _Twix Carmel_, ****and last but ****definitely ****not least,_ MushroomT_.**** Thank you all, especially MushroomT for giving me really excellent concrit! :D You guys rock soo much!**

**R&R, please! :] You'll make a certain little girl**** busily**** tinkering at her keyboard very happy!  
**


	8. Chapter Six

**I'm disappointed with myself. This chapter is only around 2k, like the previous one. :(**

**-sigh- Oh well. The next few chapters will be pretty long, so...just bear with me for a little longer, please, folks! We'll be back to the original standard of 3-4k soon! :]**

**Thanks to my reviewers as usual: _Emberheart0_, _MushroomT_, and _Featheredwing_. :D You guys are unbelievably amazing!**

**Enjoy the chapter~  
**

* * *

"Icecloud, are you sure we should be doing this?"

Icecloud hissed, struggling to keep herself from raking her claws down her sister's pelt. "Yes," she muttered furiously through gritted teeth, "now will you _please_ stop asking me that? Your incessant whining isn't helping us out here."

"Excuse me, but I think I have the right to 'whine,' as you so caustically put it, when I was dragged here against my will to stalk and spy on my Clan leader, deputy, and medicine cat. Oh, and did I mention—_none of which I wish to do?_" Silvermist retorted tartly. Icecloud grunted irritably, though she felt reluctant respect for her sister trickling through her: not just any cat with a head lost in the clouds could easily stick up for themselves, after all.

_Though of all the dreamers, it had to be Silvermist,_ she grumbled to herself as she peeked through the bushes. _Her ability to defend herself kind of clashes with my sarcasm…oh well. At least I got her to come with me. We should be able to find out exactly what's up with Smokewhisker and Splashstream._

The silvery she-cat sighed inaudibly as her sister drew her head closer to the tiny shaft of light in the bushes they were hiding in. Icecloud was…well, she wasn't a cat that gave up easily. When she set her mind to something, she _never_ admitted defeat. It was a shame, too; Icecloud was a powerful fighter, and though she wasn't quite as skilled at hunting, she could very well be a fine warrior for RiverClan. _That is, _if_ she could just get over her ridiculous grudge…_

"Listen!" Icecloud whispered suddenly as she withdrew from staring through the crack, so quietly Silvermist had to strain her ears forward to understand what the warrior had just meowed. The other she-cat flashed Icecloud a brief look before snaking her head forward.

"…We must be constantly vigilant!" A voice was raised in agitation; from the raspy quality, Silvermist assumed it was Smokewhisker's. "StarClan do not give out warnings so easily. This is serious, and we must treat it as such."

"Smokewhisker, are you absolutely _sure_ on this?" Another mew rang out into Silvermist's ears, more hesitant and unsure than the previous one. "StarClan really informed you that darkness will be shed upon us?"

"How _dare_ you question me, Splashstream!" Smokewhisker spat back, a powerful scent of fury clumping into Silvermist's scent glands. "Of course I'm sure. I'm not completely senile, you know! You don't have to tiptoe around me all the time like I'm a raving lunatic who blathers on about nonsense! I _know_ what I'm talking about—you don't, so just _shut up!_"

A silence followed his impassioned outburst. Silvermist's eyes widened, and she slowly moved her head to flash a stare at Icecloud. The blue-gray warrior's jaw had dropped.

Silvermist had always known that Smokewhisker was a little unstable, but she had never seen his…well, madness in full blast. He hadn't been embarrassed in the slightest when, as a young kit, Silvermist and Icecloud had followed him into his den and asked him if he was actually insane. Smokewhisker had merely dipped his head with a kind smile, meowing, "Yes, I can, in fact, go a little crazy sometimes. I get a bit frustrated when I don't save one of my Clanmates, you see. So you make sure you keep your nose out of trouble to keep ol' Smokewhisker from losing it, now!" Icecloud and Silvermist—known as Icekit and Silverkit back then—had gazed at him in awe, mouths slightly agape, as they nodded obediently, squeaked a goodbye, and scampered back to the nursery.

Silvermist forced herself to snap out of it; another cat was speaking. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she realized who it was. "Smokewhisker, calm yourself. We haven't got time to waste bickering amongst ourselves. If—" Silvermist could tell that the cat was picking words carefully—"this threat shall soon arise, we must ally ourselves with the other Clans." Splashstream made a small grunt of discomfort here, but he clearly didn't dare say anything else after Smokewhisker's heated explosion.

"What you say is true, Blizzardstar," Smokewhisker mewed frostily, the bitterness tingeing his voice indicating that he was still simmering after Splashstream's obviously offensive query. "I shall speak to StarClan about this."

"There's no _time_ for that," Blizzardstar snapped, her cool mew evaporating. Silvermist and Icecloud exchanged glances as the RiverClan leader went on, "This threat is true, as you say—StarClan have already sent you not one, but _two_ warnings about it. The time has passed for us to consult our warrior ancestors. We _must_ join with the Clans immediately, or it is possible that RiverClan will be lost…permanently."

The final word was spoken with such intense determination, that Silvermist flinched back, causing the bushes she and Icecloud were hiding in to rustle slightly. The two sisters froze, afraid that the leader, deputy, and medicine cat might have heard Silvermist. But to their relief, Splashstream merely murmured something, to which Smokewhisker answered with a testy growl, before all three cats began padding back to camp. Silvermist and Icecloud shied away, blending into the undergrowth as much as they could, until at last the steady sound of their Clanmates' footfalls faded away.

Icecloud clambered out of the bushes, her sister following her more cautiously. Shaking the leaves out of her fur, the blue-gray RiverClan warrior's eyes gleamed excitedly as she exclaimed, "Silvermist, did you hear that? A threat! A threat is going to attack us, and StarClan's passed warnings to Smokewhisker about it! Do you think it could be the same thing we were talking about?"

"It could be," the silvery she-cat murmured, her dark eyes gleaming flatly with worry. "But we still don't know what it _is…_"

Her sister snorted. "We listened to them for a while, and they never addressed the threat, whatever it is, by name! Not even once. Maybe they don't know what it is either. But…that's not good. Unknown threats are dangerous. Now I see why Mosstail used to be afraid of the unknown."

"He was afraid of having kits." Silvermist sighed, rolling her eyes at her sister dramatically. "That has nothing to do with what we're talking about."

Icecloud merely shrugged, her plumy tail lashing from side to side. "Either way…do you think we should tell Smokewhisker about what we've been dreaming about?"

"I'm not sure." The silver-furred she-cat hesitated, considering the idea for a few heartbeats: if they told Smokewhisker, he might be able to help them fathom what StarClan was saying to them. But if they told Smokewhisker, he would tell Blizzardstar…"Let's keep it to ourselves for a while."

Her sister was silent as they padded back to the RiverClan camp, retracing the steps their Clanmates had taken a few moments ago. As they neared a stream, Icecloud darted forward to sit on the banks. Silvermist understood what the blue-silver warrior was doing and picked her way into a cluster of bushes growing nearby, intending to catch a mouse, or perhaps a vole.

As she sprung at a mouse scavenging for seeds with its back turned, her claws snagged its spine, and she ripped it open a bit too forcefully. Blood began gushing out of the wound, as the mouse staggered and wobbled forward, resembling Swiftbrook after he'd stolen some catmint from Smokewhisker's den. But Silvermist didn't make a move to end its suffering—_couldn't_ make a move. At all. She was frozen in place, her horrified green gaze following the mouse as it collapsed to the ground twitching, blood still trickling out of its spine. The dark red liquid had hypnotized her, so that she couldn't even shift a pawstep to the side. It was almost like…StarClan was trying to tell her something through the mouse's obvious suffering and bleeding.

_But what?_ she thought, breaths coming out in broken pants now. _What are you saying to me, StarClan?_

"Silvermist," called Icecloud, and her cool mew broke into Silvermist's stupor-like trance. The light gray she-cat turned her head to see Icecloud, balancing on a boulder with two fat fish clutched in her jaws. Her fur shone a silvery-gray like Silvermist's, tinted with a touch of blue, in the bright sunlight.

Still somewhat dazed, Silvermist gingerly picked up the limp corpse and trotted to her sister.

Icecloud stared at the mouse's body. "Whoa," she hissed, shoulder fur standing on end, "it looks like it bled to death…"

"It did." Silvermist's eyes clouded over again, and she shook herself firmly to jolt herself out of the reverie once more. "We'd better get back to camp." Without another word, she turned and headed quickly across the stream and through the fields of wet, springy grass.

Even as the familiar scent of RiverClan wedged itself into her nose, Silvermist still felt unnerved from the sight of the mouse's blood leaking out of the place her claws had caught. Something kept telling her it was a message, something StarClan was attempting to convey to her…And she couldn't help but wonder, _What will be next, StarClan?_

x x - - / / - - \ \ - - x x

Slices of water rippled against Icecloud's face with a steady rhythm as she dove into the stream, cooling her face. The temperature of the water was just right; not warm, as it was in greenleaf, and not frigid like it was during leaf-bare. She swam under the surface for a while, pushing out with her back legs, before paddling to the surface to take a quick breath.

The air stung her furry face as she emerged gracefully from the stream, the sensation quite different from the welcoming embrace of the water. The she-cat bobbed up and down in place for a few heartbeats, filling her lungs with air, before plunging underwater once more.

She was different when she swam, substantially different. No, it wasn't that Icecloud was clumsy on land—that was Silvermist's duty. But she…she had a sort of _elegance_ about her, almost, when she was underwater, managing complex maneuvers and quick turns. Of course, all RiverClan cats were excellent, strong swimmers—but Icecloud just knew that she was one of the finest. Yes, she also knew she could come off a bit arrogant and overbearing at times, but it was the truth; pure, untainted truth. Just like the water.

At last the RiverClan warrior surfaced, propelling herself up with strong kicks from her hind legs. She let herself float for a while, keeping herself in place by constantly moving her paws so she didn't drift off. The lithe she-cat closed her eyes, which were just a shade darker than the river during newleaf, and really _relaxed_.

But relaxation would have to wait. For it was at that moment when Lilypaw, Mosstail's apprentice, appeared, yowling wildly, "Icecloud! Icecloud! Get out!"

The warrior's eyes, cold as her namesake, cut through Lilypaw's wide emerald pair. "Excuse me?" she sneered, and Lilypaw shrunk back, clearly fazed. "Who died and made you Lily_star?_"

"I…Splashstream," the younger she-cat whispered. "I mean, Splashstream t-told—he told me to come after you and f-fetch you…" The expression on her face bespoke intimidation, and Icecloud smirked. It had always been one of her favorite pastimes, daunting apprentices—and it never got old, either!

Icecloud made sure to appear as though she were coolly contemplating Lilypaw's—or, rather, Splashstream's—order, chuckling to herself as the apprentice squirmed uncomfortably. "Fine," she meowed offhandedly at last, pulling herself out of the water and sliding onto the shore. Lilypaw jumped back as some of the droplets clinging to Icecloud's blue-gray pelt splattered onto her own fluffy white one.

"Let's go," the apprentice mumbled, not meeting the older cat's eyes. She set off immediately. Icecloud thought idly about keeping pace with Lilypaw but decided against it—she'd have time to play with the apprentice's mind later.

The RiverClan camp had come into view. Inexplicably, Icecloud's stomach began to rumble, and she made straight for the fresh-kill pile, intending to snatch a fish. Perhaps she'd share it with Silvermist, if her sister was available.

She stopped when she saw three cats standing in the center of the camp. One of them was a she-cat with silver fur, black dots speckling her pelt here and there. Standing beside her was a brown tabby tom with dark brown flecks marking his flank and an unreadable expression darkening his orange eyes. Icecloud recognized them; the sleek she-cat was Silverfeather, the WindClan medicine cat, and the orange-eyed tom was Brownspots. He was the deputy of WindClan.

But she didn't recognize the other cat with the two WindClanners. The cat was a light tan tom with pale amber eyes; he was powerfully-built, with broad shoulders and a rather muscled chest. He smelled odd—not rabbity like WindClan cats, but…like water and rock. Lots of rocks. He was a stranger to the Clans; that was for sure. And yet everything about the strange tom exuded power and authority, in a baffling kind of way.

Cats were whispering about the odd trio. Indeed, the three cats' eyes were flickering nervously about, and Brownspots was whispering something to Silverfeather. Finally, a loud voice rang through the clearing—the RiverClan leader's.

"Silverfeather, Brownspots." The pale tabby she-cat nodded to the WindClan cats guardedly. Her voice sharpened as she mewed, "Who is this with you? And why have you come to our camp?"

"Greetings, Blizzardstar," Brownspots meowed quietly, dipping his head respectfully. "I apologize for coming into your camp unsolicited. However, we carry a message…one you might like to hear." The deputy jabbed his head towards the unidentified cat. "This is Stoneteller, or Teller of the Pointed Stones. He'll tell you the…what we came to tell you."

"Go on, then," Splashstream growled, his eyes glaring at the strangers. His tail rocked side to side as though he wanted to pounce on the three and send them out of camp. "What's so important that you had to charge into our camp uninvited, eh?"

"BloodClan." Stoneteller's voice was blunt and as strange as his scent. Heads swiveled to stare at him as he continued, "They are back—and they want revenge."

* * *

**We're starting to get to the plot now. Little by little, we're inching towards it...**

**Eh. Still kinda far away, but I intend for this story to be over twenty chapters, so...hey, it's a start! ^^**

**Anywho. I have nothing epic to say, so time to close up this silly little author's note. Remember to check my profile for the preview of Chapter Seven. You know the three characters by now - R&R.**

**Have a nice Memorial Day tomorrow; may all those brave soldiers who gallantly gave their lives up to keep this country safe rest in peace. -bows head-**


	9. Chapter Seven

**...I'm backkk!**

**-stony silence-**

**D: I'm really sorry for not updating in such a long time, guys! But I had a major case of writersblockitis for the chapters after this one, as one of my friends puts it; still do, 'smatter of fact. Plus, I'm not allowed to be on the computer at all - sneaking on at the moment just to publish another chapter of this story. ^^ So updates might get slower for a bit. Summer vacation is almost here for me, though, so...****I'll probably be able to update once a week. (:**

**The beginning of this chapter takes place as kind of a sequel to the ending of the last chapter, only ThunderClan-style. In other words, Silverfeather, Brownspots, and Stoneteller have finished informing RiverClan of BloodClan's impending threat and are now doing so with ThunderClan. That wasn't a very good summary, so I'm gonna shut up now and let you read.**

**Enjoy~  
**

* * *

"BloodClan?" Thornstar hissed, shock flaring in his eyes as he stared dubiously at the trio.

Silverfeather dipped her head in affirmation. "Yes, BloodClan," she meowed, her voice projecting throughout the whole camp. Every cat stared at her as she went on, "Stoneteller and his Tribe visited our Clan first. We initially didn't believe him, but eventually we—realized he was speaking the truth." The silver-furred medicine cat shot a quick glance at the WindClan deputy, her fur bristling ever so slightly. "We just visited RiverClan. We will inform ShadowClan after we finish notifying you."

"But that…that can't be!" cried a queen in the background; Lightstep turned his head to see Petalflower, standing outside the nursery. Her tortoiseshell face was aghast. "BloodClan died off many, _many_ seasons ago!"

"Well, they have returned," the pale tabby tom—Stoneteller, Lightstep recalled his name to be—retorted. He had a very odd accent and scent, the newly-made ThunderClan _warrior_ noticed. "They visited my Tribe in the mountains first. Consider yourselves lucky we managed to get away and find you, er, _Clan_ cats to warn you before they arrived." He stressed the word Clan as though it was as foreign on his tongue as the word _Tribe_ was on Lightstep's.

"B-but—"

"Silence," ordered Brownspots, cutting Petalflower off as she sputtered a protest. "We will explain everything after we find ShadowClan's camp."

Thornstar hissed, hurling a furious glare at the spotted deputy. "How _dare_ you issue a command in my camp," he snarled softly. Immediately Brownspots dipped his head respectfully to the aging ThunderClan leader but did not apologize. This seemed to agitate Thornstar further, and Dovewing stepped forward to speak on his behalf.

"Brownspots, how do we know you are not merely aiming to weaken ThunderClan by spreading false rumors about BloodClan?" she challenged.

The WindClan deputy's eyes blazed with fire. "How dare you call me a liar!" he roared.

"What else do you expect when you just come gallivanting into our camp, claiming that BloodClan has returned?" The small gray she-cat refused to back down, voice sharp as a splinter of ice.

Growling, Brownspots stalked forward to meet Dovewing. Nose to nose, the deputies stared each other down, pelts bristling as they rocked on their haunches, preparing to attack.

"Stop it!" snapped Silverfeather, rage flashing in her pale green eyes as she leapt forward. The tabby she-cat pulled Brownspots back roughly by the scruff of his neck with strength that astonished Lightstep. _For a medicine cat, she's strong!_ "What would Duskstar say if he saw that his supposedly-loyal deputy was off fighting another deputy? You shame WindClan like this, Brownspots!" Dovewing had stepped back as well, though the light of battle was still burning fiercely in her amber eyes.

"There is no need to fight." The words came from Stoneteller this time, his pale gaze oddly penetrating. "I shall explain everything later."

Even Thornstar was speechless for a few heartbeats; the fawn-colored Tribe cat had caught every cat off-guard, and not just because he had spoken. Stoneteller had a very mysterious aura surrounding him, one that exhibited great conviction. At last the golden-brown ThunderClan leader managed, "Well…where would we meet? Certainly not here again…"

"The Clans are to gather at sundown in a sort of…Miniature Gathering, if you will," Brownspots replied, more calmly than before. "We'll meet at the island."

"Fine," snapped Thornstar, his eyes mere slits. "See to it that you keep your word."

"Of course," Stoneteller replied smoothly, and just the sound of his voice dazed Lightstep again. However, Thornstar seemed to be better prepared for it this time and flicked his tail at Dovewing. "Escort them off our territory," he commanded. The gray deputy nodded, her eyes fixed upon Brownspots. With her tail, she beckoned to Mallowleaf, Cloudstripe, and Lionwhisker, and the seven cats headed out of camp.

Rosepool darted up to Lightstep, her bright blue eyes wide and round in her triangular, pale tan face. "Wow!" she breathed. "That was intense, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, staring absently after the patrol.

_BloodClan have returned_…_They swore revenge upon you, many seasons ago, and they intend to even the score with you Clan cats. They will be coming soon_…_They will be coming soon_…_They will be coming soon…_

Stoneteller's grave words echoed in his head. The three enemy cats had marched into camp—StarClan knew how they'd even known where the ThunderClan camp _was_—and demanded to see Thornstar. Stoneteller had introduced himself, cutting straight to the chase directly afterwards. Though simple and short, his warning had induced a wave of fear to ripple through ThunderClan. Eyes had widened, sharp gasps had hissed through the air, and cries of objection had been made. But the strange cat had refused to take his words back, saying plainly that they were naught but the truth, and the truth alone.

A gasp hitched in the tawny tom's throat as one of the words struck a chord of remembrance in his brain. _They swore revenge upon you_…_revenge upon you_…_revenge_…And one of those ShadowClan cats—Lightstep sniffed disdainfully to himself; ShadowClan!—had mentioned a dream where Cedarspots, the ShadowClan medicine cat who'd been mentor to the current one, Mudstripe, had visited him and mentioned something. Revenge.

An odd idea had planted a seed in Lightstep's mind now. _Revenge,_ Cedarspots had said. _Revenge,_ Stoneteller had mentioned. _Revenge. Revenge._ The words kept repeating themselves in his head until they began to run together. Revenge, revenge, revengerevengerevenge.

Could it be…that BloodClan was the threat StarClan had warned them of? Had that silver-gray RiverClan she-cat—Silvermist, her name was—been correct in her speculation that _blood_ meant BloodClan?

_After all,_ he remembered, _the legendary Firestar received a prophecy about BloodClan_…"Four will become two. Lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest."_ Blood back then meant Blood_Clan. _Could it mean BloodClan again?_

"It's crazy," he murmured to himself, light blue eyes narrowed in thought, "but it just might be plausible." Reluctantly, he pushed himself to his paws, knowing that he would have to inform Thornstar about his dreams.

As the young warrior trudged along the path that led to the leader's den, he noticed a flash of silver fur in the sunshine. Blinking, he realized after a heartbeat or so that it was not silver, but blue-gray fur. _Rainfall._

Confident that something was up, the golden-brown tom leaned forward. His eyes fell on nearby waving green fronds; that would disguise his scent. Stepping with a nimbleness that did his name justice, Lightstep quickly rolled in the ferns until he was satisfied that his scent had been muddled up. He let his body drop into the stalking technique employed to catch a mouse and took wary pawsteps forward until he was directly outside the leader's den. The sand-colored warrior quickly pressed himself against one of the sides of the small alcove, straining his ears to listen to the conversation taking place inside.

"…most disturbing," Rainfall was meowing urgently. "Do you remember what Cloudflight said to me, all those moons ago? 'You'd better stock up on herbs, because you'll need every bit of medicine you can get soon.'"

"_Soon_," Thornstar repeated coldly. "How long has it been, Rainfall? Three or four moons now? That isn't soon, Rainfall, that's a very long time. And how do we know that those WindClan cats and that…_ruffian_—" The word _ruffian_ was spat fiercely, as though it was a dirty word—"are telling the truth about BloodClan? Have we any proof? No!"

"Thornstar," Rainfall hissed, and Lightstep was shocked to hear the usually-placid medicine cat's voice lowered to an angry snarl, "you are being _ridiculous._ How can—"

"Don't tell me I'm being ridi—" the older cat growled, but before he could finish he was cut off by Rainfall.

"_Don't interrupt me._" The blue-gray she-cat's voice was hardly above a whisper, but the tone she had employed was…positively frightening. From his hiding spot outside the cave, Lightstep shivered. "Do you understand me, Thornstar?"

"I'm y-your leader, Rainfall," stuttered Thornstar at last. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

"Have you forgotten who _I_ am?" countered Rainfall, her voice ice-cold. "Yes, Thornstar, you may be the ThunderClan leader. But I am the ThunderClan medicine cat, and I will treat you with the respect you treat me with. Are we clear?"

A gasp emerged from Lightstep's throat before he could stop himself. Fortunately the cats inside Thornstar's den didn't seem to have heard his sharp intake of air; however, just to be on the safe side, the only form of surprise Lightstep allowed himself to display this time was letting his eyes bulge. He had never known Rainfall was capable of such, well, ferocity, and it shocked him that she really was. Clearly Thornstar felt the same way, for he only muttered a grudging "Yes" after several heartbeats of rigid silence.

"Good," the medicine cat returned, sounding less menacing but still rather cool. "In that case, you and Dovewing had better listen closely to what I am saying. Thornstar, I'm _positive_ that StarClan's warning is related to what Stoneteller informed us of. Remember the devastation that was caused last time the Clans engaged in battle with BloodClan?"

"For what it's worth," Dovewing spoke up suddenly, "I think Rainfall's got a point, Thornstar. She _is_ pretty good at interpreting signs from StarClan, after all, and her theory does fit."

"Thank you, Dovewing," Rainfall mewed quietly. "See; your deputy agrees with me as well, Thornstar. Won't you at least consider the idea I presented?"

A long silence followed her words. Then—"Fine."

At that moment, something told Lightstep that he should tell the three of his dream. So he listened to the voice, took a few soundless steps backwards, and proceeded to march loudly down the path leading to Thornstar's den, making sure that he could be heard blundering gracelessly down the rocky path.

"Lightstep?" called Rainfall, sounding startled.

"That's me," the tawny cat shouted back, trying not to make his voice sound stunned and breathless as though he had just heard a generally-easygoing medicine cat yell at her leader. "I…I need to tell Thornstar something, if that's okay."

"Fine. You come in," grunted the old leader's voice. "Hurry, too!"

Obediently, the young warrior sped up until he was standing in the entrance of the den. Thornstar was lying on his nest of soft green moss, while Dovewing was sitting primly beside him and Rainfall in front of the two.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come closer," rasped Thornstar. Dipping his head, Lightstep strode forward until he was a tail-length away from Rainfall.

"Speak," the older tom ordered.

Nodding, Lightstep began. "Well, I had a dream several sunrises ago—I think it was around nine or ten? I'm not sure, 'cause, see, it happened on the day I became a warrior, and I don't exactly remember how long ago that was. I know for sure it's more than seven sunrises, but I don't know if it's nine, ten, or—no, maybe it was eight, or even eleven! I haven't kept close count, you see; it might be eight, nine, ten, or eleven. Though I think it's nine, because, you know, it seems likelier than eight, because eight is _such_ a small number, and eleven's pushing it a little…so probably either nine or ten. But then again—"

"Will you _just_ get on with it already!" yowled Dovewing at last, much to the relief of the other cats, as she glared at Lightstep. Her shaggy light gray pelt was bristling; not a good sign. The tawny tom hastily bobbed his head and went on with the story, as requested.

"Anyway, a couple of sunrises ago, ranging from eight, nine, ten, or eleven, I had a dream. A cat from StarClan visited me. He said his name was Dustflower."

At that, Thornstar burst into highly undignified snorts. Rainfall's whiskers were twitching furiously, and even Dovewing seemed to be working hard not to chuckle. Heartened, Lightstep continued, "He had brownish-ginger fur with pale olive eyes and a long tail. He was a little rude for a StarClan cat—did you know he told me to shut up?" Lightstep paused here, looking for a shocked reaction from the older cats, but their faces merely displayed a sort of pained patience (from Rainfall), a blank stare (from Thornstar), and…Dovewing's right eye seemed to be twitching! Not a good sign. So he meowed hastily, "And he told me I was the one."

Finally Rainfall's interest seemed to be piqued. She leaned forward, meowing intently, "The one?"

"Yeah, the one. To save the Clans, do great deeds, and whose name will be forever remembered and told to little kits in stories." When Rainfall didn't say anything, Lightstep took her silence as permission to continue, and did so: "I'm part of a prophecy, along with two cats from RiverClan, one cat from WindClan, and two from ShadowClan."

"And what is this prophecy?" Lightstep stared at the medicine cat for a few heartbeats; an expression of such intensity had appeared on her fuzzy face that he was momentarily transfixed. But Rainfall did not seem patient today; she thrust her into his own and hissed again, "Well?"

After giving his pelt a quick shake, the golden-brown warrior recited, "_A heart turned to ice will unleash blood like no other. The blood of a forbidden love shall splatter onto strength and courage when six become one._"

Even Dovewing looked like she was listening now. But Thornstar merely cast the younger warrior a churlish look, meowing, "That's nothing. How do you know it wasn't just a piece of fresh-kill stuck in your throat?"

"Because I talked to the other chosen cats, and it's true!" Lightstep exclaimed before he could stop himself—a heartbeat after he'd spoken, he found himself thinking, _Uh-oh_…_maybe I shouldn't have said that._

"You talked to the other cats." Thornstar's face was blank. "And when exactly did you do this?"

Nervously, the sand-furred warrior shuffled his paws, staring down at the ground awkwardly. At last he mumbled, without looking up, "At the Gathering."

"A little convenient that you're all there, is it not?" growled Thornstar.

"Of course it's convenient; it must have been arranged by StarClan!" Rainfall snapped back before Lightstep could; he was relieved. He hadn't had a very good response to Thornstar's comment—or any at all, really. "That just proves to show that it _must_ be a sign from StarClan that this threat is serious, and very real. And only a little while later, the Tribe shows up saying that BloodClan is back and thirsts for revenge. It isn't just a coincidence, Thornstar; this is a_ genuine danger!_"

"It wasn't only a little while later. It was eight, nine, ten, or eleven sunrises later!" the ThunderClan leader shot back. "That's a long time!"

Hissing, Rainfall leapt to her paws as though she wanted to attack Thornstar, but Dovewing stood up before the blue-gray medicine cat could unsheathe her claws. "Now, now," she warned. "We mustn't fight. Save the sharp claws and fangs for our enemies." Thornstar and Rainfall only grumbled crossly until Dovewing's icy amber eyes flashed at them. "Anyway, Thornstar, they've a very good point. At the very least, I say we attend this Miniature Gathering Brownspots proposed. All right?"

Hesitating, Thornstar looked very much as if he wanted to spit out a refusal, but with Dovewing and Rainfall's stern gazes following him, he muttered, "Fine."

Lightstep flicked his tail before taking a few cautious pawsteps backward. "Can I go now?" he asked hopefully.

Rainfall's grass-colored eyes blazed, and she said quickly, "Yes. Escort me to my den, please, Lightstep?"

Tipping his head to the side, Lightstep was about to ask why she needed an escort to her own den—it wasn't like a mad badger was going to attack her in the middle of the ThunderClan camp—when he saw the irritation flickering in her eyes. She wanted to talk to him in her den. Alone.

Wondering what it was about, he nodded and they padded across the large hollow, to the sheltered niche Rainfall called her den. The two slipped quickly inside before Rainfall turned to face him.

"Now," she said briskly, "I wasn't going to ask you this in front of Thornstar, because I knew he would probably get edgy, as usual, and hiss something about lies and traps and that sort of nonsense." Her eyes blinked at him, and he noticed, with a jolt, how tired and worn-out she seemed to look. "But now that we're alone, I'm going to ask you—what did you and the other cats discuss? And who _were_ the other chosen cats?"

"Uh…" The tom cast wildly around for the names of the other cats in his mind, pulling out the first ones that popped up. "Silvermist of RiverClan…and her sister Icecloud, also from RiverClan. Then there was this orange cat from ShadowClan; had a pelt that glowed like fire in the moonlight." Rainfall's eyes widened, but Lightstep didn't notice, as he was too busy searching for the names. "Flame-something, his name was…Flamepelt? No—Flamepaw? No…ah, yes; Flamepool! Yeah, and there was another cat from ShadowClan, a horrible, nasty tom by the name of _Nightfang._" Lightstep's eyes narrowed as memories of the sneering black warrior flooded his mind: _"Clumsy ThunderClan cat!" "Bring it on, apprentice!" "Do you even _know _what that means?"_

"I'm still alive, you know." Rainfall's wry voice brought Lightstep out of his stupor.

Blinking his ice-blue eyes, the golden-brown warrior muttered an apology before continuing, "Okay, and there was some WindClan she-cat, with a white-and-dark-cream coat. Her name was Snowfeather, or Snowflight—no, Snowflower. I think so, at least. Okay, yeah; those are the chosen cats I spoke to."

"And what did you discuss?" pressed the sleek-furred she-cat.

"Well, we each had different dreams from StarClan," Lightstep explained. "You know my dream already. Silvermist was told that the current state of peace the lake is in will soon shatter from danger that will arrive soon. We're supposed to stop it, too."

He narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Icecloud said something about a great battle. Flamepool talked about revenge, Nightfang said something about climbing mountains to reach the summit, and Snowflower…"

The light-colored warrior broke off as he saw the expression on Rainfall's face—the medicine cat's eyes had clouded over in shock. He stared at her hesitantly, wondering if she had died, when abruptly the ThunderClan medicine cat pricked her ears, springing back to life and snapping, "Well? What did Snowflower dream?"

"Snowflower dreamed of blood."

There was a dull thud as Rainfall dropped to the ground, her eyes rolling back in her head. Lightstep rushed forward, not knowing what to do; he looked around instinctively for Rainfall when he remembered Rainfall had been the cat who had collapsed. "Oh, no! StarClan, what should I do?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when the blue-gray she-cat picked herself up, shook the dust out of her fur, and sat back down again. But there was a haunted look in her eyes as she glanced warily around, neck fur bristling as though she was about to launch herself at an invisible foe.

"Rainfall," Lightstep meowed cautiously, "a-are you o-okay?"

There was no reply for a long time, until at last she murmured in a voice drowned with fatigue and sorrow, "I was right."

Lightstep's blood ran cold at those three words. For once he didn't have to ask what she meant. For once he fully understood the meaning behind her sentence.

_BloodClan is the threat. They have returned._

x x - - / / - - \ \ - - x x

"Welcome, Clan cats, to the Miniature Gathering."

Unlike the loud, boisterous feel of a normal Gathering, all the gathered cats were silent, staring up at Stoneteller with tight faces. The leaders and their deputies were seated at the roots of the Great Oak, where the deputies usually sat.

Lightstep shivered. Hostility was floating in the air all around him; the Clans were angry and uneasy. Even Thornstar had shown some disquiet back at camp, despite his claims that Stoneteller had been nothing but a raving lunatic whose words should not be taken seriously. The ThunderClan leader had tried to pretend he wasn't worried by making Graykit, Drizzlekit, and Eaglekit into apprentices, though Honeyfur had protested they were too young, but Lightstep knew that Thornstar was shaken. On the bright side, though, Graypaw, Drizzlepaw, and Eaglepaw were finally apprentices, and they were standing with their older brother (well, _had_ been sitting; a few heartbeats after finding a spot to stand, his siblings had wandered off into the crowd to StarClan-knew-where). Thornstar had decided to bring them along to the Miniature Gathering.

The light brown tabby Tribe cat sighed, shaking his head slightly but carrying on smoothly. "I am sorry that you had to gather in such an impromptu way, but it is mandatory," he meowed, keeping his head up in the air. "You see, as I stated before, BloodClan have returned."

The stony silence the Tribe leader had commanded was instantly broken, as warriors objected, "No—BloodClan scattered long before we came to the lake! They can't _return_ just like, well…that!"

"I understand your worries and disbelief," Stoneteller mewed firmly, "but this is true. If it were not, why would I have traveled all the way here with my Tribe? I assure you, this is no hoax; I am an honest cat. I would not lie to you Clan cats, and certainly not about something so serious."

"If it's true," called a jeering voice in the crowd of cats, "prove it! Explain yourself."

Stoneteller sighed wearily. "As you wish." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief heartbeat before reopening them—Lightstep started at the sudden strength they seemed to contain.

"Many, many moons ago, BloodClan arrived in the mountains. Led by a silver tabby tom named Stripes, we thought BloodClan was nothing more than a pack of trouble-making rogues. They were stealing our prey. Two cave-guards, Talon of Swooping Eagle and Night of No Stars, finally enlisted the help of a few Clan cats, whom helped get BloodClan out of the Tribe's fur by establishing boundaries. BloodClan backed off after that.

"But it wasn't the end of BloodClan. They returned, but not with hostility in mind this time—in fact, Stripes seemed to want to make peace with us. He introduced his cats as BloodClan, and the Tribe healer at that time introduced us as the Tribe of Rushing Water. We grew into friends, almost, respecting each other's borders and meeting together in peace once every moon.

"And that's when the trouble started. BloodClan asked us one day to teach them how to speak to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, our ancestors. They requested that we teach them our techniques, including that of the cave-guards, prey-hunters, and even the Tribe healer. And, foolishly, we taught them, believing that they had good intentions and merely wanted to become a Tribe as well. But, oh, were we wrong.

"After we'd taught them our special techniques, BloodClan disappeared for a long time. They no longer attended our once-a-moon meetings, and we didn't see them patrolling their boundaries anymore. Of course, my Tribe was too honorable to steal from their territory and take advantage of our so-called friends like that.

"At last the silence grew so thick that we became curious. Eight moons had passed since we'd last met with BloodClan, and the Tribe healer before me had already joined the Tribe of Endless Hunting. I was worried for our 'friends;' they had been nothing but pleasant to the Tribe. I had been but a to-be at the time the Tribe and BloodClan had been on good terms, and I had not been born when they wreaked havoc for a short while on the Tribe. I was naïve. Foolishly believing that they needed our help, I sent two of my prey-hunters and one of my cave-guards to check on them. They returned, shaking in their paws with fear, their eyes wild as they took frenzied gasps. My eyes grew wide as well as they described to me what they had seen.

"BloodClan had been training. Every cat in the lot—kits, elders, even kit-mothers—had been honing their fighting skills to some extent. My cats had recognized some of the techniques the Tribe had taught them, and some other, stranger moves. But we recognized the danger, and we knew it was true. That's when one of the prey-hunters overheard a big silver tabby with light blue eyes, saying something to a smaller brown she-cat. It was the leader of BloodClan, Ice, and his deputy Fang. 'Soon we will be able to fulfill Scourge's plans,' he hissed. 'We shall use these techniques those idiot Tribe cats taught us and combine them with the Clans' very own battle styles when we attack them and take back what is ours. We march shortly in a few days, when Mahogany returns from his examination of the Clans' territory. Then we will make the four Clans into one—BloodClan. And I will be their proud, nine-lived leader.'

"I was appalled upon hearing the cat I had considered a friend talk like this. But I knew it was not safe for my Tribe to stay in the mountains anymore—if BloodClan was willing to attack the Clans, they might decide to attack us as well. So I gathered…most of my cats…and we fled, one dark, starless night. I remembered vaguely from nursery stories my mother had told me that the Clans lived beneath the mountains near a large, large lake. With the help of some elders, we managed to navigate our ways to the hills after seven sunrises…where WindClan found us. And that," he bowed his head, "is the story."

Silence reigned for several heartbeats, until at last a warrior called, "You fled with most of your cats? Why not all of them?"

Lightstep flinched back from the sudden anger that flared in Stoneteller's eyes. "A few of my cats," he snarled, voice taut with fury, "chose to shed their Tribe names and stay with BloodClan, believing they had a better chance at survival with them. They are _traitors._"

"But if Bl-BloodClan really are c-coming," a rather high-pitched voice stammered nervously, "then surely _we_ d-don't have very good chances at s-survival, either. If they kn-know your techniques and ours, what hope is there left?"

Several angry yowls screeched through the clearing, and Lightstep looked around for the source of the question. But the sky was gray, and the sun had vanished—it was hard to see his surroundings clearly. He shrugged. Either way, that cat was obviously a coward who thought like a traitor.

"If you Clan cats work together with my Tribe, we may yet be able to counter the attack," Stoneteller responded.

"It doesn't matter! There _is_ no hope left! We'll all be lost!" Another wail rose into the air. More joined it, though some were snarls of rage. Lightstep pressed himself against the ground, ice-blue gaze shining fearfully.

"There is hope." A new voice had rung through the clearing, louder than all the caterwauls combined. Heads turned to stare at the new speaker; Lightstep took in a quick breath as he recognized the cat.

"There is hope," Rainfall repeated, balancing nimbly on one of the Great Oak's branches (Lightstep wondered how she'd gotten there without any cat noticing), "because StarClan have sent a prophecy. Six cats have been chosen to fulfill it."

A long, stunned silence followed Rainfall's statement. Then suddenly, it was broken by a single whisper: "Who?" Gradually, more whispers of _who_ spread through the crowd of cats, until they sounded like a nest of owls echoing each other.

Rainfall paused, taking a deep breath before fixing her piercing green eyes upon Lightstep. He shivered and took a step back, feeling a chill of foreboding creep down his spine.

"Snowflower of WindClan, Icecloud and Silvermist of RiverClan, Flamepool and Nightfang of ShadowClan, and Lightstep of ThunderClan." Gasping replaced the soft _who_-ing. Cats turned to stare at their Clanmates—the chosen ones. ThunderClan openly gaped as they realized that the mousebrain of the Clan was destined to save all the Clans from BloodClan's threat.

"They are part of the prophecy," the she-cat meowed again. "They will save us all."

* * *

**Whew, that was long! Why is it that my ThunderClan chapters always turn out long..? o.o Ah, well. Enjoy the length for now, because the chapters after this one get shorter. And the lengths between updating might get longer.**

**Thanks to my reviewers as usual - _Twix Carmel_, _Featheredwing_, _Skystripe_, _Emberheart0_, _Shadow Before The Storm_, and _MushroomT_. You guys are the bestest ebur :DD. **

**R&R, please, as usual!  
**


	10. Chapter Eight

**HAI EVERYBODY!**

**._. Yeah, sorry about the really long delay. DD: But this chapter is extremely long (around 5.5k words!), so um...yeah. -nods lamely- I...really don't have much to say, except I've been experiencing some major writer's block for a few of the chapters after this, so that's...my excuse for taking so long, I guess.**

**I hope I've still got a few readers left. xD**

**Oh, before I forget: some people have been asking 'bout the timeline of this story. Well, this story takes place long after every cat already mentioned in the real Warriors series dies. However, some cats in this story may be relatives of cats from the original series (e.g. Rosepool is descended from Bumblekit. No, she's not really descended from Bumblekit; I just made that up as an example), but no cat from the original series is alive in this story.  
**

**Enjoy~  
**

* * *

Sinister strokes of black smothered the usually star-ridden sky, allowing only the bright, untainted light of the moon to shine. The only sound that could be heard was silence—pure, boundless silence that rung loudly through the forest.

A lone cat sat outside on the banks of the lake, his pelt concealing him from watching eyes. His wary, gleaming yellow gaze was the only indicator of his presence, the one thing that gave him away as he stared impassively at the vast, rippling body of water that lay before him.

Outwardly, the tom appeared calm, almost bored. But a storm was raging inside him.

_"__There is hope…There is hope, because StarClan have sent a prophecy. Six cats have been chosen to fulfill it…Snowflower of WindClan, Icecloud and Silvermist of RiverClan, Flamepool and Nightfang of ShadowClan, and Lightstep of ThunderClan…They are part of the prophecy. They will save us all."_

Rainfall's words echoed in his head long after the Miniature Gathering Stoneteller had hosted a sunrise ago had broken up. After the ThunderClan medicine cat had revealed the prophecy and the identities of the chosen cats, chaos had swiftly plunged into the crowd. Every cat began squabbling wildly, yowling loudly about the prophecy and StarClan's will. Nightfang had found himself being bombarded with questions and stares and comments. He'd desperately tried to squirm out of his Clan's grasp, but to no avail; the dark-furred tom had found himself trapped on every side. He'd seen Flamepool attempting to escape as well, but both of them had been cornered like a frightened rabbit trying in vain to escape its predators. At last Clawstar, Blizzardstar, Thornstar, and Duskstar had ordered their Clans to return to camp, though they made arrangements to meet again with their medicine cats tomorrow at sundown. With StarClan's chosen accompanying them, of course.

Closing his eyes, Nightfang heaved a deep sigh as he thought about the challenges he'd have to face if he went on the journey. They would be strenuous, difficult, and taxing, and he might not get out uninjured. Or even alive. This journey was—not going to be easy. That was for sure.

_But then again, Flamepool's going with me,_ he remembered. All his worries instantly died away, and he even allowed himself a small smile. Whatever happened, if Flamepool was going along with him, he knew he could relax. The orange tom had been his closest friend since their days as little kits, tumbling around and tussling in the nursery. They didn't speak or stick around together so much now that they were warriors, but the two were still friends. In fact, they'd planned their lives out together back when they were apprentices: the two seven-moon-old toms had just finished a friendly play-fight and were laughing…

_"__Great moves!" exclaimed Flamepaw, his eyes glowing with mirth. The two cats lay side by side, still panting from the vigorous play-fight. "Did Acornheart teach you them?"_

_"__Nope!" Nightpaw meowed loudly._

_Flamepaw gasped, green eyes going wide. "Y-you mean you made 'em up yourself?"_

_"__That I did," confirmed his best friend, dipping his head proudly._

_A purr burst out of the orange apprentice's throat, and he flicked Nightpaw's shoulder playfully. "Wow! You better teach me them sometime. I want to be as good as fighting as you are."_

_"__No way! Make up your own or ask Birdsong," the sable-furred tom retorted indignantly, though his tawny gaze was glinting with amusement. "I came up with them fair and square. You have to come up with your own."_

_"__But we're best friends!"_

_Nightpaw shrugged indifferently. "So?"_

_Growling half-heartedly, Flamepaw narrowed his eyes teasingly at Nightpaw. "Okay, how about this? I've got a proposition for you," he meowed smoothly._

_Mildly interested, Nightpaw pricked his dark ears. "Go on."_

_"__Okay. You teach me those moves, and I'll make you deputy when I become leader."_

_Snorting, Nightpaw shoved his friend with his paw. "Who says I want to be deputy? What if I want to become leader, eh? What if I killed you, like old Brokenstar did to Raggedstar?"_

_"__Ah, but you _don't_ want to become leader," Flamepaw mewed smugly. "You don't have that sort of ambition. I do, though, so it's a fair trade!"_

_Hesitating, Nightpaw glanced at his friend. The ginger tom's eyes were large and earnest, and his thick fur was fluffed out. He truly looked like he…well, meant it. And Nightpaw knew Flamepaw had a point; he had never desired to become ShadowClan leader. Being deputy did appeal to him, however…_

_The raven-colored apprentice bowed his head, admitting defeat and giving in. "All right. I teach you some of the moves, and you make me deputy?"_

_"__Definitely!" squeaked Flamepaw. Nightpaw snickered at his friend's high-pitched, she-cat-like voice, but he stood up, indicating with his tail for Flamepaw to do so as well._

_"__Okay, this move is a defensive one. You slip under the cat when he springs at you and pull his tail, which unbalances him and makes him fall. Then you leap at him and sink your claws into his side…"_

Nightfang closed his eyes, smiling to himself in spite of the grim mood that had previously enveloped him. Another memory rushed into his mind, flooding all his senses as he re-experienced it…

_"__You meant it?" A nine-moon-old Nightpaw stood gaping at his similarly-aged best friend. This Nightpaw was extremely different from the Nightpaw that had been seven moons of age; he was more muscular and much stronger, for one, and his senses were more developed. He was faster and more experienced, and altogether not a cat anyone would want to meet in battle._

_Flamepaw shrugged nonchalantly as he narrowed his eyes, scanning the marshy environment for prey. "Of course I did. I wasn't joking, Nightpaw; I really _do_ want to become Flamestar of ShadowClan." His gaze fell upon a toad, hopping around and clearly unaware of the two cats lurking behind it._

_"__But…" Nightpaw trailed off feebly as his fellow apprentice sprang at the toad, dispatching it with a nip to the spine._

_"__But what?" Flamepaw glanced up casually as he buried the fresh-kill._

_Nightpaw merely blinked before realization hit him at last: Flamepaw wanted to be Flamestar. It was so unbelievable, so improbable…and so like Flamepaw, to aspire to achieve a goal that could very well be impossible to reach. "It's so unlikely that you succeed, though," he mumbled at last, not exactly knowing what to say._

_The orange apprentice's eyes narrowed. "It would be unlikely that I succeed," he snarled, "if I didn't really _care_ about becoming Flamestar." For a heartbeat his grass-green eyes were obscured—and then they were open again, blazing with a fire. A kindling flame. "But you know what, Nightpaw? I _do_ care about this. I want to become the leader of ShadowClan as I've never wanted something before, and I know I can do it, too. I'll do anything to achieve my goal and crush any obstacle in my way…well, the ones that I can crush, anyway. I believe in myself; why can't you believe in me?"_

_And in that moment, the passion burning in his eyes was enough to rival that of a flaming star._

_Nightpaw blinked once, twice, thrice, before his face broke out into a small smile. "Okay, Flamepaw. I…I believe in you. I'll be with you every pawstep of the way."_

_"__Darn right you will!" growled Flamepaw, though he was smiling as well. "You'll be Night, uh…Nightflower, the great Flamestar's loyal deputy!"_

_"__Clawstar wouldn't give me such a feminine name!" protested Nightpaw._

_Snorting, Flamepaw flashed him a look of great skepticism. "You sure about that?"_

_Hissing good-naturedly, Nightpaw leapt at him, and the two toms whirled around in a play-fight. But for all their horsing around, both cats knew—they would be at each other's side, striking as one, helping the other out when he needed help. Because one day Nightpaw would be Flamepaw—Flame_star's_ deputy. And he couldn't wait for that day._

_And it _will_ happen,_ Nightfang thought as he rose to his paws fluidly, turning and padding back to camp. _One day, I _will_ be the ShadowClan deputy, serving my leader loyally. Flamepool and I—we made plans long ago. And we've got the rest of our lives to accomplish them. We'll be able to do it!_

x x - - / / - - \ \ - - x x

"Excited?" Nightfang asked Flamepool as they padded after Clawstar and Mudstripe.

The ginger warrior shrugged, not meeting Nightfang's eyes. The latter frowned in confusion when his friend didn't make another move or sound in response.

During the turmoil that had occurred after the Miniature Gathering, Clawstar had agreed to meet again at sundown the next day with his medicine cat and chosen warriors. The other leaders too were bringing their chosen cats and Clan healer. Nightfang hadn't been overtly thrilled about it, but in the mayhem after the Miniature Gathering he had quickly agreed to it.

As the log that led to the island came into sight, Clawstar halted and faced his cats. "Listen," he said quietly, and Nightfang couldn't help but admire the ShadowClan leader. He spoke in a way that commanded every cat's attention, in spite of the volume of his voice. "I want you three to be on your alert. Even if BloodClan is returning, who knows what kind of stunts the other Clans might try to pull? So be careful and don't reveal too much—or anything at all, if you can. All right?"

"Okay," Nightfang mewed tersely as Mudstripe dipped his pale brown head in assent. Flamepool just grunted. Clawstar shot the fire-colored cat a concerned look; usually Flamepool actually _talked_. But so far he hadn't meowed much—in fact, Nightfang couldn't recall his friend saying anything at all during the trip to the island. And the black-coated warrior's memory was very sharp.

At last Clawstar turned and, his muscles rippling under his dark pelt, sprung onto the log with a massive leap. The tabby leader made slipping over the fallen trunk look extremely easy as he scooted quickly along the hunk of wood. Nightfang narrowed his eyes, determined not to show any weakness, and swiftly bounded on. This proved to be a mistake, as the raven-furred tom began to slip off, but he managed to grip onto the sides with his stone-sharp claws.

Once the small isle came into sight, Nightfang sped up, though he was careful about not rushing and this time falling into the lake—unlike Flamepool, who was slightly hotheaded about making errors, Nightfang actually learned from his slip-ups. As soon as he set paw on the island he padded into the clearing to sit and wait.

"Blizzardstar." Clawstar nodded to the elegant gray-and-white she-cat as he leapt onto one of the branches of the Great Oak. Mudstripe followed, stopping at the roots of the tree and waiting patiently. The RiverClan leader was already balanced neatly on her usual branch, the one highest up the trunk. She dipped her head in response, appearing calm and relaxed, though her deep blue eyes were darting around with the sharpness of a hawk's.

He spotted Icecloud and Silvermist sitting together near the bushes. They were conversing in quiet mews, murmuring about something clearly very serious. Nightfang stood watching them and feeling awkward until Silvermist pricked her ears, clearly sensing a cat's gaze burning into her sleek pelt. Her eyes fell upon the black ShadowClan cat.

"Hi," the silver-gray she-cat greeted, her mew sounding tentatively friendly. Nightfang twitched a dark ear ever so slightly in response.

"Uh, would you like to sit with us?" Silvermist offered politely. Startled that she was even bothering to speak to him, Nightfang stared at her. The dark-colored warrior was grumpy and emotionless in the wake of most cats—even when he was with Flamepool, he didn't show too much feeling. In fact, he'd even overheard one of his own Clanmates saying that he "can be so cold; rude, even. I mean, he doesn't do anything that shows a morsel of emotion, really."

"Well?" Silvermist's dry voice crackled in his ears as the raven-black tom just gaped at her. "Are you going to reply or stand there like a moonstruck badger all day?"

Blinking, the cat nodded awkwardly and padded slowly towards the two RiverClan sisters. As he dropped cautiously down, a tail-length or two away from them, he noticed that Icecloud didn't even acknowledge his presence. Actually, she seemed to be lost in her own world as she stared at the Great Oak, eyes azure pools of some inscrutable emotion. Following her intent gaze, Nightfang found himself looking at the two leaders whom had currently arrived.

Silence wrapped itself thickly around the three cats as Silvermist stared off into space and Icecloud continued to watch the Great Oak. But the hush mattered little to Nightfang; he was accustomed to its familiar echo and took comfort from its presence.

Abruptly, a loud crunching caught his attention, and he sprang to his paws at once. Hackles raised, golden eyes narrowed, the warrior lowered his well-muscled body into a defensive stance. He waited tensely for the new arrival, whoever it was, to appear. Clearly snapped out of her daze-like state, Silvermist shot him an odd look, as though she thought he was behaving oddly, but didn't comment.

At last a cat burst into the clearing, tail held aloft and pale eyes shining with eagerness. Nightfang recognized Lightstep's tawny pelt and rather small build at once, and spat contemptuously: the biggest mousebrain of them all himself had arrived. As had Thornstar, Rainfall, and—Nightfang blinked as the ThunderClan deputy strode after her leader. Dovewing was here? _Probably because Thornstar is getting older,_ Nightfang deduced.

"I'm here!" announced Lightstep as he bounced up to the gathered cats. Clearly, only his intelligence had been robbed from him; he was…enthusiastic in his approach. And, to Nightfang, pretty bold to just come charging up to the other cats without invitation.

But courage didn't make you invincible. If anything, sometimes it caused you to be reckless and unrestrained. And in battle, that was definitely _not_ something you'd want to be.

"Yes, I can see that," Icecloud retorted testily, breaking off her staring at the leaders to flash Lightstep a frosty glare before turning back to the tree. Silvermist was gentler, murmuring a quick "Hello" and scooting over to make room for him. The light tom blinked gratitude at the glossy-pelted RiverClan cat before plopping down beside her.

Nightfang shifted his gaze over to the leaders. Dovewing was standing at the roots of the tree with the medicine cats, though she commanded power with an aura befitting a Clan leader. _That's where I'll stand someday,_ he reminded himself. _And Flamepool will be Flamestar, standing in Clawstar's position…_

As his mind drifted to Flamepool, the ShadowClan tom scanned the clearing for his Clanmate. The fiery-orange warrior was sitting by himself at the edge of the clearing, his leaf-colored eyes unfocused, just as Silvermist's had been a few minutes ago. Nightfang wondered what was on his friend's mind and briefly pondered whether or not to call him over, when he realized that if Flamepool had _wanted_ to, he would have already sauntered over and taken a seat beside his fellow chosen cats. But his loneliness seemed to be self-inflicted, as he sat unaccompanied several fox-lengths away. Odd.

_Maybe he's thinking about Fernpool's kits,_ Nightfang decided at last. A few sunrises ago, Flamepool had begun to express interest in the creamy queen's kits, the oldest litter in the ShadowClan nursery. They would be ready to receive their apprentice names within three or four sunrises. _Yes, that's it. He's wondering which of Fernpool's kits he wants to mentor, because he needs to have had an apprentice before Clawstar can promote him to deputyship…_

"WindClan's here!" Lightstep called, his tail thumping from side to side. Nightfang blinked—the ThunderClan cat had smelled the approaching WindClan party before he had? That too was very odd.

Duskstar burst into sight, his tabby-striped gray twisting lithely as he bounded onto his branch. Silverfeather trotted to the medicine cats, greeting them with polite murmurs and dips of her long-furred silver head. Snowflower was the last to appear, and she padded slowly to the center of the island.

"Come, come," encouraged Duskstar, jabbing his tail towards his warrior. "Join Snowflower in the heart of the clearing so we can address you all clearly." Hesitancy darted from every cat's eyes (except for Lightstep's; he just raced over to sit neatly next to Snowflower without a second thought) before they warily trudged over. Flamepool pricked his ears dully and picked his way over to sit next to Snowflower.

"That's better." Duskstar closed his pale amber eyes for a few heartbeats before opening them again and declaring, "Well, you all know why we're assembled here: to discuss BloodClan and anything StarClan might have told you about them." Nodding brusquely towards Snowflower, he ordered, "You go first, Snowflower."

The dainty-figured she-cat blinked at him with leaf-colored eyes. "A cat visited me in my sleep," she mewed quietly, "and told me of blood. They must have meant Blood_Clan_."

"Interesting…" Clawstar murmured. "Hmm. Okay, then, Nightfang, why don't you tell us about your omen?"

"Pinefrost visited me and mentioned climbing mountains," the cat mumbled. "And to reach the summit, we must join as one."

Clawstar's eyes widened. "Mountains," he exclaimed. "The Tribe—BloodClan lived in the mountains with them! Okay, Flamepool, you next."

The bright-furred tom blinked and stirred, as though he had been shaken out of a trance. "Cedarspots, the original ShadowClan medicine cat, came to me and spoke of one word: revenge."

"It all ties in with the Tribe's story so far," mused Blizzardstar. She turned her deep blue gaze on her warriors, who stared stonily back. Nightfang frowned, bemused. _Isn't she going to tell them to recite their dreams?_

Eventually Silvermist broke the strangely taut silence with an equally oddly-crisp mew. "Berrystar visited me"—Blizzardstar's eyes flashed at the mention of her former leader—"and told me that danger fast approaches the lake and shall shatter the peace we are experiencing at the moment. BloodClan is dangerous, isn't it?"

A murmur rippled through the medicine cats as they stared at the chosen cats and began whispering busily to each other; gossiping, Nightfang assumed. Silvermist flicked Icecloud with her tail, dark green eyes glaring into her sister's brilliant blue. "Go," she hissed very quietly; so quietly, in fact, that he just barely heard what she said even when he perked his ears.

Icecloud shot her sister a cold look but meowed, very loudly, "My father visited me in my dreams." Blizzardstar blinked, staring at Icecloud with an odd expression that disappeared in a heartbeat on her patched face. "We shall be thrust into a great battle, the likes of which have never been seen before."

"And what did you dream of, Lightstep?" Dovewing meowed smoothly.

Eyes narrowing thoughtfully, the golden-brown warrior hesitated in his answer before replying, "A cat named Dustflower told me that all six of the chosen cats need to join together as one to prevent destruction and blood from being spilled."

Thornstar's eyes opened wide at the sound of Dustflower's name—Nightfang recalled that he had been a tom. According to Lightstep, anyway. But he didn't doubt Lightstep's word on that account, because you would have to have no brains at _all_ to not be able to tell whether a cat was a tom or she-cat. Whilst the ThunderClan idiot was, well, an idiot, he did have a brain (though Nightfang wondered if it was working or not) as well as a sense of smell and could _probably_ distinguish the difference between a tom and a she-cat.

"It…it all fits," Clawstar hissed, his eyes wide open with shock. "It all fits the information Stoneteller gave us: BloodClan is returning to get revenge on the Clans, which will throw us all into a great battle that will happen very soon. To keep this from happening, StarClan chose six cats to climb the mountains, where BloodClan currently is, but to accomplish that feat—"

"—the six chosen cats must join together as one," Mudstripe finished. His pelt was bristling from the thought of BloodClan returning seeking vengeance upon the Clans, Nightfang assumed. "Well, then…"

"Didn't Stoneteller say that BloodClan was supposed to arrive a few days after his Tribe members overheard Ice's plans?" Duskstar interrupted. "And that was, what, a moon ago?"

Blizzardstar drew in a sharp breath. "BloodClan was supposed to have arrived here a moon ago then. What could have caused them to delay their coming?"

No one answered her question. No one _could_ answer it. What had postponed BloodClan's appearance? Nightfang realized it was a good question, and he narrowed his eyes to slits as he concentrated. Had Stoneteller known what had held up the cruel, revenge-seeking cats, or was he as clueless as the rest of them?

As he thought, something kept nagging at him. He was certain Stoneteller _had_ mentioned something that could be useful, but he couldn't remember it at the moment…The black-coated tom hissed in frustration, letting his claws dig deep into the earth beneath him. Silvermist and Lightstep shot him startled looks, shifting slightly away from the dark ShadowClan cat, but said ShadowClanner didn't notice. He was still trying to dig up the memory that was pushing at the back of his mind.

"Well, either way," Silverfeather meowed at last, "if BloodClan should have arrived here long ago, we'd better send the chosen cats off soon…or it might be too late."

"Yes, that's a good idea," agreed Rainfall immediately, Smokewhisker bobbing his head up and down in clear concord.

"Definitely." Duskstar nodded. Clawstar and Blizzardstar voiced their approval as well, while Thornstar hesitated before nodding reluctantly. Dovewing's eyes were tracking him concernedly.

"In fact, we ought to send Flamepool, Nightfang, Snowflower, Silvermist, Icecloud, and Lightstep off tomorrow!" Smokewhisker's olive-green gaze had darkened with worry as he continued, "If BloodClan was supposed to come a while ago, who _knows_ when they'll come now? Their arrival will be unpredictable, which might even have been their objective in the first place. So we'd better let the six go off on their journey at once."

"That makes sense." Clawstar nodded his head before turning his amber gaze onto StarClan's chosen cats. "All right, then; let's end this meeting so the six can prepare for the trip, seeing as it won't be easy. That much is for sure."

No objections were made, and the four leaders jumped down from the branches on the Great Oak. The other medicine cats and warriors followed their Clan leaders until soon only Clawstar, Mudstripe, Flamepool, and Nightfang were left on the island.

"You heard what they said," Clawstar meowed grimly. Now that the other cats were gone, his eyes revealed much more apprehension and anxiety than they had before. "Flamepool and Nightfang, you two will be going on the journey. I—I won't lie to you; the prospects are not good that you'll come out alive." Flamepool took in a quick breath while Nightfang blinked twice or thrice. "Your job, however, is to halt BloodClan in its tracks however you can. And if that means sacrificing yourselves…you two are loyal ShadowClan cats. You would die for the Clan, correct?" The two warriors nodded. "Well, you might have to sacrifice yourself this time in order to deter BloodClan's progress, even if it's only for a few days. You _must_, at all costs, keep them from advancing on us. That is your true job."

"If I may," Mudstripe cut in, "before you go, I suggest you think up a strategy to prevent BloodClan from returning quickly. Yes, battle skills are a necessity in battling your opponents, but a strategist armed with tactics and cunning will almost always defeat a warrior who depends on brute force to win the battle."

Clawstar nodded approvingly at his tabby medicine cat before flicking his tail and padding off. Nightfang flashed a wide-eyed look at his friend, but Flamepool seemed worried. _I can't say I blame him, though,_ the black tom thought. _He's always wanted to be the leader of ShadowClan, and he might lose that opportunity if he comes with us on this journey…oh well. StarClan laid out our path long ago—disaster could strike if we don't stick strictly to it._

x x - - / / - - \ \ - - x x

Nightfang was ready.

He was readier than he had ever been in his entire life. For the entire afternoon the tom had strategized, considering every possible scenario carefully and consulting the Tribe, who was staying on WindClan territory for the time being, for analyses on BloodClan. And finally, after a while, he had crafted together a plan to save the Clans.

It was crazy—but it just might work.

The warrior had informed Clawstar, who'd discussed it with the other leaders, medicine cats, and Stoneteller himself. Most of them had called it an insane and risky idea.

But one that had a chance of succeeding.

After he had finished devising tactics, Nightfang had polished up his fighting skills with his former mentor, Acornheart. The latter had at last dipped his furry gray head, surrendering and telling his past apprentice that his battle techniques were as sharp and dangerous as they had ever been. Flamepool had also practiced fighting and helped him pick out strategies to use against BloodClan, but his eyes had glazed over on occasion, as though he was thinking about something. Nightfang assumed that the something was the terrifying thought that they might not survive this ordeal. But he had hardened himself, knowing that he was doing this for the greater good.

The next day, Mudstripe had taught him and Flamepool a variety of basic herbs that they might find useful in case of any sort of ailment. Flamepool still seemed to be lost, and Nightfang felt great sympathy towards his friend: it must hurt, to know that the goals you've always dreamed of achieving could very easily be smashed to pieces.

Finally, Mudstripe had declared them ready to go, as had Clawstar, Acornheart, and Birdsong, Flamepool's former mentor. They had exchanged a goodbye, perhaps for the last time, with their Clanmates before setting off to meet the other chosen cats. Yes, the two were ready—ready to fulfill their destinies, as StarClan had arranged for them.

Nightfang was practically prancing by the time he and Flamepool reached the hills on WindClan territory, so uncharacteristically anxious was he to get started on the journey. "Where are the other cats?" he snapped impatiently, spinning around every so often to check for the other chosen ones. "They should be here by now…"

Flamepool didn't answer. His eyes were still lowered to the ground, a fine mist draping over them.

At that, Nightfang lost his patience, of which he had little of today (which per se was very odd). "Flamepool, I know you're upset that you might not live through this and become the ShadowClan leader, but we're going to begin the journey in a very short while. So you might as well get used to that fact."

At first, Flamepool didn't respond. But as several heartbeats pulsed by, he finally raised his gaze to stare directly into Nightfang's tawny one, and softly meowed something that would change every Clan cat's life forever: "I'm not going."

Nightfang froze, hoping he'd heard the fire-colored warrior wrong. "Excuse me," he mewed slowly at last, "but I was under the strange impression that you said you're—"

"—not going, yes."

"Wh…_what?!_" the dark cat yowled after blinking several times, staring at his friend with horror. "You can't be serious, Flamepool. You…you _have_ to come on the journey. You were chosen by StarClan, for crying out loud!"

The ginger tom said nothing, merely avoided his gaze.

"Flamepool," Nightfang hissed again, lowering his body into a battle position this time, "you are going to go on the journey. Even if I have to make you come along."

"Is that a threat?" Flamepool's voice was cool but very quiet; his stare bored into Nightfang.

The black tom let out a growl of frustration, swearing furiously as he did so. "No, for StarClan's sake, Flamepool, I wouldn't threaten my best friend—but you have to come! We'll all need your leadership skills, your ability to fight, your ingeniousness—we need all of that! And I won't be able to do it without you, Flamepool; you've _got_ to come."

"I'm sorry." Flamepool's bright eyes were staring at the ground again. "But my mind's made up."

Nightfang just stood there, immobilized by shock. How could Flamepool do this? He was defying StarClan's will, for one, and didn't he see that he was being selfish this way? He didn't deserve to be a leader if this was the way he acted.

A flashback leapt to mind at those words: _"But you know what, Nightpaw? I _do_ care about this. I want to become the leader of ShadowClan as I've never wanted something before, and I know I can do it, too. I'll do anything to achieve my goal and crush any obstacle in my way…well, the ones that I can crush, anyway. I believe in myself; why can't you believe in me?"_

Flamepool was afraid, afraid that BloodClan would be too big of an obstacle for him to crush successfully. So he had chosen to stay behind, thinking that it would be easier for him to become leader that way. _What a fool,_ Nightfang snarled. _Have you no faith in us, Flamepool? Have you no faith in your best friend's plans? How could you?_

"Fine," the black tom snapped at last. "Go ahead."

His Clanmate's head snapped up, and Flamepool stared at him in obvious astonishment. "Y-you mean it? Really?" Nightfang nodded curtly, and Flamepool let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for understanding, Nightfang," he murmured appreciatively. "I—"

"You're wrong," Nightfang interrupted fiercely. "I do _not_ understand one bit. I don't understand how you could do this, why you want to do this, and what makes you think you can get away with doing this. You betrayed us all, Flamepool." He shook his head and began to turn away.

"I'm sorry…" was all Flamepool managed. "But I promise you, if you end up alive after this fiasco, I'll make you deputy on the spot—"

"Deputy? You, make me deputy?" With a harsh bark of a laugh, Nightfang twisted around to glare at the cat he had once considered loyal and let out a quiet snarl. "No. I want nothing more to do with you, Flamepool. You are not my friend anymore, and I don't even want to live in the same camp as you, much less den. You're selfish and a _coward_. Do whatever you want—it doesn't concern me anymore." He turned his back. He heard another mumbled "I'm sorry…" and then a pattering of footsteps, growing quieter until they entirely disappeared. Flamepool was gone.

No sooner had they stopped then another started. Nightfang recognized Icecloud and Silvermist's scents, and Snowflower's as well. Lightstep arrived a few heartbeats afterwards.

"Where's Flamepool?" Snowflower asked, looking bewildered.

Claws sinking into the ground, Nightfang hissed through gritted teeth, "He's not coming."

"Not coming? _What?_" Icecloud's irritation edged all around her, clotting her fish-like RiverClan scent. "What's wrong with him? Has he got bees in his brain? He's _prophesized_ to come with us—how can he just…back out like that?"

"It's because he's a coward. He wants to stay behind because he believes we'll all die." Each word was harder for Nightfang to drag out. "He thinks that this way, he'll have a better shot at becoming leader of ShadowClan. Hah! As if."

"Well, let's go after him and make him see the light!" Lightstep was pacing around agitatedly, a heavy fear-scent wreathing around him. "That idiot…"

"There's no point to that," Silvermist meowed reasonably, though her claws were scored deep in the earth. "He's probably already halfway back to his camp. And plus, we haven't got time to waste persuading him to go. We've got to set out at once. ShadowClan will recognize his cowardice and dishonor him for it. But for now…we've got our own worries."

"She's got a point," Icecloud murmured. Letting out a weary sigh, the blue-gray she-cat turned to the others. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat before meowing slowly, "Well, this is it then…Are you all ready for the adventure of a lifetime?"

"Bring it!" Lightstep retorted defiantly. Snowflower's eyes narrowed, and she nodded.

A small, hard smirk appeared on Icecloud's face. "Then let's go."

As Nightfang padded off with the other four cats at his side, he erased all the miscellaneous thoughts from his mind. He didn't know where the mountains were, exactly, and he didn't know if his strategy would work. But he was starting over now, starting a new journey that would take him to an unknown place. He narrowed his eyes and forced his mind to focus solely on doing his job as the five remaining chosen ones strode towards the mountains, where BloodClan was waiting for them.

* * *

**Yar. You never saw that coming, didja? xD**

**So Flamepool's the coward from the first chapter...One down, two to go! I wonder who the traitor and the really dangerous cat are? Well, you'll find out who the dangerous cat is soon enough...**

**o.o Yeah. ^^" Thanks to my reviewers for Chapter Seven: _Kinkajou Karata_, _Skystripe_,_ MushroomT_, _Shadow Before The Storm_, and _Grassy Leaves_. Speaking of Grassy Leaves, thanks, Grasseh, for the awesome beta-work! :]  
**

**As usual, R&R please~  
**


End file.
